| Old field ladies' tresses | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Cranichideae |
| Genus: | Spiranthes |
| Species: | S. sheviakii |
| Binomial name | |
| Spiranthes sheviakii M.Hough & M.A.Young | |
Spiranthes sheviakii, the old field ladies' tresses, is a species of orchid growing in North America. [1]
Spiranthes sheviakii reach a height of 50cm. They have 1–4 leaves that usually persist through flowering (but may then soon start to wilt). The leaf shape is linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, rarely obovate, 7–23 cm long and 1–2 cm wide. Flowers are arranged in a tight spiral around the stem and strongly nodding, with 3–4 flowers per cycle. Like all spiranthes each flower head has 3 sepals (with the dorsal sepal at the top) and 3 petals (with the labellum at the bottom). The sepals and petals are white to ivory with the labellum centrally yellowish. The tips of the lateral sepals are typically incurved over the top of the dorsal sepal and side petals.
They flower mid September to early October in the northern portion of their range and late September to late October in the southern portion. [2]
Spiranthes sheviakii look similar to several other spiranthes species, in particular S. cernua and S. ochroleuca . The flowers of S. sheviakii appear more ivory than white compared to S. cernua though (hard to see in the field, but when compared side-by-side) and the labellum is more yellow. Under a hand lens the labellum of S. sheviakii also will reveal spherical glands on the underside while S. cernua has conical or flattened glands. Compared to S. ochroleuca the lateral sepals look different – they are straight with inward curved tips in S. sheviakii but falcate and not incurved in S. ochroleuca. [3]
Spiranthes sheviakii have been found in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois and likely also occur in Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. [2]
They prefer acidic, dry to mesic successional habitats, open barrens and old fields. They are also found in thickets undergoing succession to oak-hickory or mixed hardwood-pine forests. [2]
Spiranthes sheviakii was first identified by Charles Sheviak (who it is named after) as his "old field ecotype" of S. cernua. In 2021 Michael Hough and M.A. Young described it as a new species and as a likely ancient hybrid of S. cernua and S. ochroleuca. This led to differing views among botanists as to whether the description as a new species makes sense, or whether it should be seen as a synonym to the modern hybrid with the same parents, Spiranthes × kapnosperia. [1] [4] [3] [5] [6]
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.
Cyrtostylis, commonly known as gnat orchids, is a genus of five or six species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is native to Australia and New Zealand. Cyrtostylis orchids often form dense colonies of genetically identical plants. They have a single heart-shaped leaf and a thin flowering stem with pale coloured insect-like flowers. The lateral sepals and petals are similar in size and colour but the labellum is shelf-like and conspicuous with two prominent glands at its base.
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 cernua, commonly called nodding lady's tresses, or nodding ladies' 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.
Caleana, commonly known as duck orchids, is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae that is found in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian species are found in all states but have not been recorded in the Northern Territory. Duck orchids have a single leaf and one or a few, dull-coloured, inconspicuous flowers. Most species are found in Western Australia but one species occurs in eastern Australia and one occurs in eastern Australia and New Zealand. Orchids in this genus as well as the hammer orchids (Drakaea) are pollinated by male thynnid wasps.
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 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 ancylosa, commonly known as the Genoa spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with red markings.
Caladenia catenata, commonly known as white caladenia, white fingers and lady's fingers, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and one or two white, sometimes pink flowers on a thin, sparsely-hairy stem. It is similar to Caladenia carnea but lacks the red and white bars on the labellum of that species.
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 and north throughout Japan. 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.
Genoplesium sigmoideum, commonly known as the Dave's Creek midge orchid, is a species of small terrestrial orchid that is endemic to a small area in the Lamington National Park in Queensland. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to twenty dark red flowers with a hairy labellum. The species is treated as Corunastylis sigmoidea in Queensland.
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 arcisepala, the Appalachian ladies' tresses, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae. This orchid is native to eastern North America. Long treated as part of Spiranthes cernua the species complex was reevaluated and Spiranthes arcisepala established as a separate species in 2017.
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 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.
Spiranthes casei, or Case's lady's tresses, is a species of orchid native to the northeastern United States and Canada.
Spiranthes igniorchis, or fire ladies' tresses, is a species of orchid endemic to Florida.
Spiranthes nebulorum is a species of orchid found in Mexico and Guatemala.
Spiranthes× kapnospria, the smoky ladies' tresses, is a species of orchid growing in North America.
Media related to Spiranthes sheviakii at Wikimedia Commons