Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

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1457

Forb
Perennial

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Uncommon (rare in GA, rare in SC Mountains)

Look for it in swamp forests, bottomland forests, hammocks, ravine forests, per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
White
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
 Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata   FAMILY Orchidaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-12-001:
 Spiranthes ovalis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
 Ibidium ovale

 

COMMON NAME:
 Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Rusty Wilson    fkw_spiranthes_09222019_1

September    Greenwood County    SC

Ninety Six National Historic Site

Prefers a heavily shaded habitat, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Rusty Wilson    fkw_spiranthes_09222019_2

September    Greenwood County    SC

Ninety Six National Historic Site

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Rusty Wilson    fkw_spiranthes_09222019_3

September    Greenwood County    SC

Ninety Six National Historic Site

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Rusty Wilson    fkw_spiranthes_09222019_4

September    Greenwood County    SC

Ninety Six National Historic Site

3 or 4 shiny narrow leaves on lower half of stem are present at flowering, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Rusty Wilson    fkw_spiranthes_09222019_6

September    Greenwood County    SC

Ninety Six National Historic Site

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Jim Fowler    jafsovaliserostella_full

September    Rutherford County    NC

Flowers usually grouped tightly at the top of an 8-10" stem, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Jim Fowler    jafsovaliserostellata

September    Rutherford County    NC

The 1/4" flowers are aligned in 3 fairly vertical ranks, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.

image of Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, Lesser Ladies'-tresses, Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

Keith Bradley    kab_s_ovalis_erostel_3920

September    Lancaster County    SC

Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve

Flowers of this variety are self-pollinating and don't open fully, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.