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Platanthera grandiflora - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Orchidaceae

Habitat

Wet meadows and wet open woods.

Associates

Distribution

Newfoundland to southern Quebec and southeast Ontario, south to NJ, PA, and northeast OH, and along mountains to NC and TN.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial 27-120 cm; lower leaves lanceolate or oval, the upper much reduced and narrow; inflorescence cylindric, densely flowered; flowers purple to rose-purple, rarely white; sepals broadly oval to obovate, the laterals 6-10 mm long and 4-6 mm wide; lateral petals oblong-spatulate, 6-10 mm long and 5-6 mm wide, finely toothed, about equaling the sepals; lip up to 18 mm long and 25 mm wide, deeply 3-parted, each lobe broadly flabellate, deeply toothed, the teeth shorter than the body of the lobe, the terminal lobe scarcely clawed, not notched in the center.

Notes

Flowers June to August

Wetland indicator: FACW

Similar to P. psycodes but with the rostellum lobes angular, directed forward and spreading. Where the two species occur together P. grandiflora tends to flower a few weeks earlier. Can hybridize with P. lacera and perhaps rarely with P. psycodes. Rare white-flowered forms can occur that resemble P. leucophaea.
 

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Sheviak, C.J. 2002. Platanthera, In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Eds. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 26. Oxford University Press, New York.

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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