Native Plants
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Platanthera grandiflora
Platanthera grandiflora (Bigelow) Lindl.
Greater Purple Fringed Orchid
Orchidaceae (Orchid Family)
Synonym(s): Blephariglotis grandiflora, Habenaria fimbriata, Habenaria grandiflora, Habenaria psycodes var. grandiflora
USDA Symbol: PLGR2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
Deeply fringed, fragrant, lavender flowers in many-flowered, elongated clusters on a leafy stem.
A close-up of the individual flowers reveals the striking beauty of the fringed orchids. The method of pollination by moths is interesting. The pollen masses (pollinia) bear a sticky disc that protrudes below the anther. As the moth extends its tongue into the spur of the lip petal and then out again, it pulls the pollen mass from the anther and carries it to another flower where cross-pollination occurs. Small Purple Fringed Orchid (P. psycodes), occurring from Manitoba east to Newfoundland, south to Georgia, and northwest to Tennessee, Missouri, and Minnesota, has smaller flowers. Purple Fringeless Orchid (P. peramoena) has an unfringed lip petal; it grows from Pennsylvania and New Jersey south to Georgia, west to Arkansas, and north to Missouri and Illinois.
Plant Characteristics
Duration: PerennialHabit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Up to about 4 feet tall.
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Pink , PurpleBloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Bloom Notes: Blooms rarely white.
Distribution
USA: CT , DE , GA , MA , MD , ME , NC , NH , NJ , NY , OH , PA , RI , TN , VA , VT , WVCanada: NB , NL , NS , PE
Native Distribution: Ontario east to Newfoundland, south to Georgia, and north to Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan.
Native Habitat: Cool moist woods, wet meadows, and swamp edges.
National Wetland Indicator Status
Region: | AGCP | AK | AW | CB | EMP | GP | HI | MW | NCNE | WMVE |
Status: | FACW | FACW | FACW |
Web Reference
Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter
From the Archive
Wildflower Newsletter 1995 VOL. 12, NO.2 - Wildflower Center Opens April 8th through 9th, Grand Opening Schedule of Events,...Additional resources
USDA: Find Platanthera grandiflora in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Platanthera grandiflora in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Platanthera grandiflora
Metadata
Record Modified: 2023-04-25Research By: TWC Staff