Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Spiranthes sylvatica
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Spiranthes from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Compared to Spiranthes praecox, Spiranthes sylvatica has a laxer spiral (as few as 3-4 flowers per turn), much longer lip (recurved), relatively spreading sepals (oriented downward), larger flowers, with greenish veins on sepals and both lips, and the flowers overall with a more yellowish-green color (vs. bright white), per Weakley's Flora (2022)
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Spiranthes praecox
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Spiranthes sylvatica
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Spiranthes praecox
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-12-006?:
Spiranthes praecox FAMILY Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ibidium praecox
COMMON NAME:
Woodland Ladies'-tresses, Pale Green Ladies'-tresses
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ibpr_001_lvd
)
Jim Fowler jafssylvatica_3
April Levy County FL
)
Jim Fowler jafssylvatica_4
April Levy County FL
Flowers a creamy green (vs. the bright white of S. praecox), per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Spiranthes sylvatica
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Spiranthes praecox
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Spiranthes sylvatica
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Spiranthes praecox
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-12-006?:
Spiranthes praecox
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ibidium praecox
2157
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Pine-oak forests and woodlands, live oak hammocks, interdune swales, rich dry forests, other woodlands, 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.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly basal (when present)
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
(marked with green)
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
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".