Spiranthes is a genus of orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae. They are known commonly as ladies tresses, ladies'-tresses, or lady's tresses. The genus is distributed in the Americas, Eurasia, and Australia. The genus name Spiranthes is derived from the Greek speira ("coil") and anthos ("flower"), and was inspired by the spirally arranged inflorescence.
Spiranthes spiralis, commonly known as autumn lady's-tresses, is an orchid that grows in Europe and adjacent North Africa and Asia. It is a small grey-green plant. It forms a rosette of four to five pointed, sessile, ovate leaves about 3 cm (1.2 in) in length. In late summer an unbranched stem of about 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) tall is produced with approximately four sheath-shaped leaves. The white flowers are about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and have a green spot on the lower lip. They are arranged in a helix around the upper half of the stalk. The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES as a species that is not currently threatened with extinction but that may become so. Autumn lady's-tresses are legally protected in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Spiranthes romanzoffiana, commonly known as hooded lady's tresses or Irish lady's-tresses, is a species of orchid. Collected by Chamisso during the Romanzov expedition it was described by him in 1828 and named for Count Nikolay Rumyantsev who financed the expedition. This orchid is native to North America, Ireland and the British Isles.
Spiranthes parksii, the Navasota ladies' tresses, is a species of orchid that is endemic to Texas, United States. The flower was first discovered in 1945 and was first described by Donovan Stewart Correll in his 1950 book, Native Orchids of North America North of Mexico.
Spiranthes cernua, commonly called the nodding lady's tresses, is a species of orchid occurring from Maritime Canada to the eastern and southern United States. As the common name suggests cernua means "nodding," or "bowed" in Latin.
Spiranthes diluvialis is a rare species of orchid known as Ute lady's tresses. The species name diluvialis means "of the flood". It is native to the western United States, where there are scattered, mostly small occurrences in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. An occurrence was recently discovered in southern British Columbia. The plant faces a number of threats to its existence. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Spiranthes lacera, commonly called the slender ladies'-tresses, is a species of orchid that is native to Eastern North America. It has a widespread range and is found in a variety of open habitats, both natural and disturbed. It produces a spiral of white flowers in the summer.
Spiranthes magnicamporum, commonly called the Great Plains lady's tresses, is a species of orchid that is native to North America. It is primarily native in the Great Plains, but there are outlying populations in the east in areas of former natural grassland, such as the Black Belt prairies of the Southeast. It is found in both fens and wet and dry prairies, often in calcareous soil.
Caladenia cardiochila, commonly known as thick-lipped spider-orchid, fleshy-lipped caladenia and heartlip spider-orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria and South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and one or two yellowish-green, red-striped flowers on a thin, wiry stem.
Caladenia toxochila, commonly known as the bow-lip spider orchid is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single, sparsely hairy leaf and one or two yellowish-green flowers with red stripes. It occurs in Victoria and South Australia and resembles the related Caladenia concinna from New South Wales.
Caladenia ensigera is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two greenish cream to whitish green flowers and is only known from Alligator Gorge in the Mount Remarkable National Park.
Pterostylis cernua, commonly known as the Westland greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to New Zealand. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves but flowering plants have a single white, dark green and reddish-brown flower with leaves on the flowering stem.
Spiranthes australis, commonly known as austral ladies tresses, is a species of orchid that grows from southern Caspian Sea and Himalayan Mountains to the South-West Pacific. It has up to about ten leaves at the base of a flowering stem with up to sixty small pink and white flowers spirally arranged around it.
Spiranthes lucida, the shining ladies'-tresses, is a species of orchid native to northeastern North America.
Spiranthes incurva, the Sphinx ladies' tresses, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae. This orchid is native to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes Basin of North America. The species was originally described as Ibidium incurvumJenn. in 1906. Long treated as part of a sensu latoSpiranthes cernua, the species complex was reevaluated and Spiranthes incurva reestablished as a separate species in 2017. Spiranthes incurva is an ancient natural hybrid of S. cernuasensu stricto and S. magnicamporum.
Spiranthes niklasii, Niklas’ ladies’ tresses, is a terrestrial orchid nearly endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma with a few other known populations.
Spiranthes longilabris, the Long Lipped Ladies' Tresses is an orchid endemic to the southeastern United States.
Spiranthes sylvatica, the woodland ladies' tresses or pale-green ladies'-tresses is a terrestrial orchid endemic to the United States, very similar in appearance and range to Spiranthes praecox which it had been considered a variation of for a long time.
Spiranthes triloba, the panther ladies' tresses is a terrestrial orchid endemic to Florida.
Spiranthes bightensis, the Atlantic ladies tresses, is a terrestrial orchid native to coasts of the north-eastern United States.
