Spiranthes diluvialis

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Spiranthes diluvialis
Spiranthes diluvialis.jpg
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Spiranthes
Species:
S. diluvialis
Binomial name
Spiranthes diluvialis
Sheviak

Spiranthes diluvialis is a rare species of orchid known as Ute lady's tresses [2] (also, Ute ladies'-tresses). The species name diluvialis means "of the flood". [3] 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. [4] The plant faces a number of threats to its existence. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States. [3]

Contents

Taxonomy

Specimens of this orchid were first collected in 1856 [3] and have been labeled with the names of several species, including Spiranthes romanzoffiana , S. cernua , and S. porrifolia before the plant was finally described as a new species in 1984. [5] Morphological and genetic analysis suggest that the orchid is of ancient hybrid origin between S. romanzoffiana and S. magnicamporum and is tetraploid, with four sets of chromosomes resulting from the combination of a pair from each parent species. [6] [7]

Description

It is a perennial terrestrial orchid with an erect stem growing 20 to 62 centimeters in height. The narrow lance-shaped leaves are arranged around the base of the stem and are up to 28 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a spiral of many flowers on a stalk coated in glandular hairs. The flower has narrow white or ivory-colored petals. Blooming occurs in July and August, and sometimes into September, [8] and October. [4] The plant reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by sprouting from broken-off pieces of root. The seeds are so small they are like dust; one plant can produce 100,000 individual seeds. [3] Like other orchids, this species depends on mycorrhizal fungi to help the seeds germinate. The flowers are pollinated by bees of genus Anthophora , especially Anthophora terminalis , as well as bumblebees (Bombus spp.). [3] [9]

Habitat

This plant grows in moist wetland habitat, including bogs and riparian areas such as riverbanks, floodplains, lakeshores, riverside woodlands and forest, desert springs, and meadows, and human-made habitat such as ditches, reservoirs, and irrigated agricultural settings. [4] In 2005 there were about 52 occurrences. The population size is difficult to count or estimate because the plant spends most of its time in a vegetative or dormant state, in which there are few or no aboveground plant parts and these may be hidden in dense surrounding vegetation or hard to identify. Some plants may be dormant underground for years at a time. What appear on paper to be larger populations are actually areas that have been more often and intensely surveyed. [3]

Conservation

Threats to this species include habitat loss and degradation via many processes. Urban development has led to the extirpation of a number of populations, including some within the Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas. It continues to be a threat in many areas, including the vicinity of Boulder, Colorado. Threats associated with urban development include the introduction of weeds into the habitat and the loss of pollinating insects. Construction and maintenance of roads and other infrastructure, such as dams and pipelines, damages habitat. Recreational activities in the plant's riparian habitat, such as boating and off-road vehicle use, can be damaging. Some populations grow in irrigated fields and are susceptible to mowing and other farm activity, and the conversion to agricultural use consumes natural areas. As much as 65% of the plant's known habitat is affected by cattle and horse grazing; this can be harmful but it may also be beneficial in some ways, especially if the animals eat competing weeds. The orchid grows in wetland habitat, which is degraded by any process that alters the local hydrology; one estimate had 52% of all individuals in areas threatened by hydrological change. Water is diverted for irrigation and municipal use. The orchid grows in flood-prone river habitat and flood suppression via levees and other structures affects and prevents this natural process. River restoration activities have been known to negatively affect orchid populations that have become established or re-established in previously altered river habitat. [3]

Invasive species of plants considered threats include redtop (Agrostis stolonifera), musk thistle (Carduus nutans), spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa), Russian knapweed (Acroptilon repens), creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense), Fullers teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia), quickgrass (Elytrigia repens), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), peppergrass (Lepidium latifolium), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis), and saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis). [3]

This plant grows in many types of habitat reliant on natural cycles of disturbance, such as flooding and occasional wildfire. Without these processes, the habitat becomes overgrown and large and woody vegetation types move in as ecological succession causes overall change. When flooding is controlled and fire suppression is implemented, the orchid may face inadequate conditions, such as too much shade or thick layers of built-up leaf litter. [3]

Other threats include herbivory by native animals such as bighorn sheep, voles, and rabbits. The loss of pollinating bees is a threat, as is the loss of other wildflowers that attract the bees. Other documented threats include drought, pesticides, pollution, and poaching. [3]

Related Research Articles

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Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth except glaciers. The world's richest diversity of orchid genera and species is found in the tropics.

<i>Ophrys apifera</i> Species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae

Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as of a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.

<i>Centaurea</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the daisy and sunflower family

Centaurea is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich. In the western United States, yellow starthistles are an invasive species. Around the year 1850, seeds from the plant had arrived to the state of California. It is believed that those seeds came from South America.

<i>Spiranthes</i> Genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae

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.

<i>Spiranthes spiralis</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Spiranthes romanzoffiana</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Spiranthes parksii</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Spiranthes cernua</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Clematis socialis</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Clematis socialis is a rare species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Alabama leather flower. It is native to the US states of Alabama and Georgia, where it is known from only five populations. The species is seriously threatened by habitat destruction. It is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Spiranthes delitescens</i> Species of plant

Spiranthes delitescens is a rare species of orchid known by the common names reclusive lady's tresses, Canelo Hills lady's tresses, and Madrean lady's tresses. It is native to Arizona in the United States, where there are only four occurrences. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.

<i>Spiranthes magnicamporum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Spiranthes odorata</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes odorata, marsh lady's tresses or common lady's tresses, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, native to the southeastern United States, from Texas eastwards and northwards to Delaware. It grows in moist, partially shaded environments with acidic or neutral soil.

<i>Spiranthes australis</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Spiranthes lucida</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes lucida, the shining ladies'-tresses, is a species of orchid native to northeastern North America.

<i>Spiranthes incurva</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Spiranthes niklasii</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Spiranthes perexilis</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes perexilis, the languid ladies’-tresses, is a species of orchid native to California and Oregon.

<i>Spiranthes eatonii</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes eatonii, commonly known as Eaton's ladies' tresses is a terrestrial orchid endemic to the United States, closely related to or a variation of Spiranthes lacera.

<i>Spiranthes triloba</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes triloba, the panther ladies' tresses is a terrestrial orchid endemic to Florida.

References

  1. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer". NatureServe Explorer Spiranthes diluvialis. NatureServe. 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  2. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Spiranthes diluvialis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fertig, W., et al. (2005). Rangewide status review of Ute Ladies'-Tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis). Prepared for the USFWS and Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Spiranthes diluvialis. The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  5. ↑ Sheviak, C. J. (1984). Spiranthes diluvialis (Orchidaceae), a new species from the western United States. Brittonia 36(1) 8-14. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  6. ↑ Arft, A. M. and T. A. Ranker. (1998). Allopolyploid origin and population genetics of the rare orchid Spiranthes diluvialis. [ dead link ]Am J Bot 85(1) 110-22. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  7. ↑ Szalanski, A. L., et al. (2001). Origin and conservation genetics of the threatened Ute ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes diluvialis (Orchidaceae). [ dead link ]Am J Bot 88(1) 177-80. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  8. ↑ Spiranthes diluvialis. Flora of North America. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  9. ↑ Spiranthes diluvialis. Center for Plant Conservation. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
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