Orchids, here and there

mjshevlin

New Member
Jun 25, 2010
22
12
Middlesex, NJ
www.euonym.us
I've been editing photos and planning this year's hiking trips while staring out of the window at all that soul-crushing snow that this interminable winter just dumped on us a few days ago. I live in the middle of the state, so it's just as easy for me to get down into the Pinelands as it is for me to get up into the highlands, and I got to thinking about the interesting similarities and differences of my favorite plants down south and up north. We're so fortunate to live in a small state with such varied habitat. I figured I'd share some color to brighten up these dreary late winter days.

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I know spring is really here when Listera australis starts popping up; it's the earliest flowering of all NJ orchids, and sometimes we're lucky enough that it will start right around the beginning of April. Interestingly, this plant used to be one of the rarest plants in the state, but it's expanded its range throughout the southern half of the state to the point that it is no longer tracked by the NJ natural heritage program. In contrast, Listera smallii is still one of the rarest plants in the state, known only from a single location way up in the north.

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When I first started my botany hobby, I thought of Cypripedium acaule as a Pinelands plant, and indeed, I first found it in a disjunct pine barrens remnant not too far from home. It's actually our most common orchid, and it grows statewide. However, the less common yellow lady's slippers, Cypripedium parviflorum, prefer the top half of the state. We have all three varieties, var. pubescens, var. makasin, and var. parviflorum (listed in order of increasing rarity).

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The most common of the late spring-blooming bog pinks, Pogonia ophioglossoides, is ubiquitous in the wetlands in the southern half of the state. It used to be widespread up north, too, but nearly all of its habitats were destroyed by development. On the other side of the coin, Triphora trianthophora (which used to be considered a member of Pogonia) is a very rare plant that grows in the woods in northern NJ, and if it flowers at all, it does so around August.

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We've got two orchids in the state with the unusual habit of growing their leaf in the cold season. For that reason, they're both way easier to find in the winter when greenery is scarce than when they flower, when their green and brown flowers blend in really well with the woodland understory. Tipularia discolor has a preference for the southern half of the state, while Aplectrum hyemale likes it up north.
 
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mjshevlin

New Member
Jun 25, 2010
22
12
Middlesex, NJ
www.euonym.us
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Most of our Spiranthes are pretty widespread, but we've got a couple that have pretty distinct preferences. Spiranthes laciniata is a rare plant that lives in acidic Pinelands savannahs, while Spiranthes lucida is a northern species that prefers calcareous wetlands.

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When I think about Platanthera, the stunning white Platanthera blephariglottis is one of the first plants that comes to mind. It's all over the place in the Pinelands in damp to wet habitats. Up north, we have to make due with the common white-ish Platanthera lacera, but it won't win any beauty contests anytime soon with those ragged flowers.

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The real magic with Platanthera are the much more difficult to find colorful species. In the south right around the first day of August, there are a few places that harbor the big orange Platanthera ciliaris. We've got a big purple Platanthera up north, but you'll have to look for Platanthera grandiflora right as spring turns to summer to find it flowering.

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There's also the small-flowered orange Platanthera cristata in the Pinelands, which is surprisingly difficult to find despite the brilliant color because it's also a small plant. In the north there's the small-flowered purple Platanthera psycodes, which can host flowers just as tiny as P. cristata on a plant three feet tall! They both flower at the beginning of August.

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Best of all, Platanthera species will sometimes create natural hybrids if mixed populations have similar blooming times and share pollinators. Here's Platanthera x canbyi, from a mixed population of P. blephariglottis and P. cristata growing on a Pinelands roadside, and Platanthera x andrewsii, from a mixed population of P. lacera and P. psycodes growing along a small stream so far north it was nearly in New York.
 

Teegate

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Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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Mike,

Thanks for the photos.

I was looking your profile over and the link to your homepage does not work.

Guy
 
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