Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria verticillata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more: Isotria verticillata (Large Whorled Pogonia orchid) in Brevard, Transylvania County, NC by Jim Fowler.
Learn more about Large Whorled Pogonia from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria verticillata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Isotria verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Pogonia verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Isotria verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-001:
Isotria verticillata FAMILY Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Isotria verticillata
COMMON NAME:
Large Whorled Pogonia, Large Five-leaves
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_isve_001_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_i_verticillata_5
April
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_i_verticillata_c
April
The long dark sepals & gaping lip resemble a large insect waiting for prey, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
Greg Peters glp_05082013_v2
May Transylvania County NC
DuPont Forest
3 long, narrow sepals are light green at base, dark purplish-brown at tips, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
COMPARE
Large and Small Whorled Pogonia and Indian Cucumber-root
)
Greg Peters glp_05102013_v2
May Transylvania County NC
DuPont Forest
)
Greg Peters glp_05102013_v2a
May Transylvania County NC
DuPont Forest
The bright green leaves tend to point upward when the plant is in flower, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
Jim Fowler jafisovert_030511
May NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Jim Fowler jafisovert_close030511
May NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria verticillata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria verticillata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Isotria verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Pogonia verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Isotria verticillata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-001:
Isotria verticillata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Isotria verticillata
767
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Acidic, mesic to dry forests, 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
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish /Purplish-brown
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!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p233
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p052
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p072
- 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
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p051
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p402
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p096
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p396
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p023
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p150
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".