Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria medeoloides
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Isotria from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria medeoloides
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Isotria medeoloides
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Isotria medeoloides
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-002:
Isotria medeoloides FAMILY Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Isotria affinis
COMMON NAME:
Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_isme2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_isme2_003_lvd
)
Jim Fowler jaf_isomed2
May Rutherford County NC
The flower is surrounded by three 1" sepals the same color as the leaves, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
COMPARE
Large and Small Whorled Pogonia and Indian Cucumber-root
)
Jim Fowler jafisomed_030510
May Rutherford County NC
When in flower, the 5-6 light bluish-green leaves point downward, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
Jim Fowler jafisomed_2030510
May Rutherford County NC
Leaf arrangement similar to Medeola virginiana, hence "medeoloides", per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
David Campbell mdc_isotria_medeoloides
May Guilford County NC
The capsule is erect, ellipsoid-cylindrical, 1.7-3cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria medeoloides
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria medeoloides
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Isotria medeoloides
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Isotria medeoloides
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-002:
Isotria medeoloides
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Isotria affinis
2140
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Acidic mesic to dry-mesic forests, in the mountains and upper Piedmont usually with Pinus strobus, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Whorls of 5-6
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellowish-green/ Greenish-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:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p177
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p226
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p177
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p402
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p092
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p396
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p023