More Orchid Leaves

What I would like to have is an identification guide that details all stages of development of all plants and animals from egg/seed to maturity. Fully illustrated of course. It’s frustrating to find plants that you should know, but can’t identify because they are not at a growth stage you recognize. I know this plant is an orchid, so several hundred possibilities have been eliminated. There’s still a ways to go before attaching a specific name to this specimen.

If you can’t identify something, the natural impulse is to look more closely. It’s the visual equivalent to turning up the TV volume when someone is speaking with an accent you don’t understand. These leaves look like those of the genus Spiranthes, but there are still several species to choose from. Time of flowering varies between species, so I closely examine the little stub to see if it’s the start of a leaf or a flower stalk. It’s a leaf. No help there.

Location can also give a clue to species. This plant is growing in the trail that passes the resting bench. I pass this way quite often so I know that no orchid bloomed here before. These must be young plants.

There’s more than one plant. Three less vigorous specimens are growing in the same area. In shaded locations, Spiranthes ovalis, Lesser Ladies’ Tresses, is the only Spiranthes species I’ve found. If I only had something to compare it to.

What a fortunate coincidence that last fall I marked the location of two Spiranthes ovalis growing next to the barn. I mark a few plant species each year, so I can watch how the plant changes through the season. A spider has webbed over both sites, but I think I can break through to view the plants.

Spiranthes ovalis, matching very closely what I saw near the resting bench. This plant flowered last year, so you would expect the growth this year to be less robust. Ovalis blooms in October and until now, I’ve never known what the plant looked like at this time of year. I so enjoy learning new things.

Lesser Ladies' Tresses

This is part of the flower spike of an orchid called Lesser Ladies’ Tresses, Spiranthes ovalis. This is a September bloomer and is uncommon in Ohio.

This is the smallest of the Ladies’ Tresses at Blue Jay Barrens. The tightly wound flower spike sits atop a four to eight inch stem. Most plants are just now beginning to bloom.

The leaves of this plant sit very near the ground. Some animal, such as a deer, can nip off the flower stalk and the leaves will remain to continue producing energy for storage in the roots. Deer usually don’t bother these plants unless someone touches the flower with their hands. Sometimes a single touch changes things enough that a deer will bite off the top of the plant. I’ve seen this same thing happen to many species of plants. Touch it today and it’s gone tomorrow. Now I use a stick to move plants around for a better look, so I don’t turn them into a deer snack.

These flowers are really hard to see. They grow in moist soil in partially wooded areas where the shadows and surrounding vegetation tend to mask their presence.

This is a typical situation for Lesser Ladies’ Tresses. Open woods on the lowest part of a hillside provides perfect growing conditions. There are at least five plants growing in this small area.