Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanthera grandiflora
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
There are three "Purple Fringed Orchids"! Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Learn two characteristics that will help to distinguish Small and Large Purple Fringed Orchid: Click here.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera grandiflora
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Platanthera grandiflora
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Platanthera grandiflora
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-003b:
Habenaria psycodes var. grandiflora FAMILY Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Habenaria fimbriata
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Blephariglottis grandiflora
COMMON NAME:
Large Purple Fringed Orchid, Plume-royal, Greater Purple Fringed Orchid
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_blgr_001_lvd
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk2278_a
June
A squarish to roundish (never dumbbell-shaped) opening at lip base, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Harry Davis hld2278_crw_7011
July Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Lip petal divided into 3 flared deeply-fringed lobes, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Steve Marlow snm070702d101_008
July Pocahontas County WV
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
Leaves alternate, lanceolate, keeled, to 8" long, sheathing the lower stem, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanthera grandiflora
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera grandiflora
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Platanthera grandiflora
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Platanthera grandiflora
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-003b:
Habenaria psycodes var. grandiflora
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Habenaria fimbriata
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Blephariglottis grandiflora
2278
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: bogs, seepages, moist places at high elevations, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, with floral bracts upward
FLOWER:
Summer
Lilac-lavender/ Pinkish-purple
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
Raceme
FRUIT:
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) p275
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p315
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p404
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p460
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p026
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".