north american native orchid journal - at The Culture Sheet

Pelchat: SPIRANTHES PARKSII CORRELL – NAVASOTA LADIES’-TRESSES
east of all other known populations. Recent surveys of the Jasper
County Black Branch Barrens area of the Angelina National
Forest have resulted in finding a few other plants (MacRoberts &
MacRoberts 1997).
Range/Habitat
Spiranthes parksii, with the exception noted above for Jasper
County, inhabits the Post Oak Savannah region of East Texas.
The Post Oak Savannah is a region located northwest and west of
Houston and occupies a space between the Blackland Prairies to
the west and the Piney Woods to the east. To the south the Post
Oak Savannah tapers out and mixes with the Blackland Prairies
habitat, (Figure 1). This unique habitat is made up of an area of
about 8,500,000 acres of gently rolling hills with elevations from
65 to 300 meters above sea level. It receives about 75 to 115 cm
of rainfall annually with the peak rainfall occurring during the
months of May or June. Vegetatively it consists of open fields
dominated by tall grasses and spots of woodlands that are
comprised mostly of post oak, Quercus stellata and blackjack oak.
Quercus marilandica. Soils consist of acid loamy sands in the upland
areas to acid loamy sands and clays in the bottomland areas.
(Correll & Johnston, 1970) The area was extensively cultivated
for grains, vegetables and fruit trees up through the 1940’s.
(Wilson, unpublished) This cultivation may explain the rarity of
S. parksii and the disjunctive nature of some of the populations.
Within this range Spiranthes parksii is found mostly along
drainage areas that represent naturally disturbed areas through the
post oak woodlands leading to the Navasota River and is rarely if
ever found in unnaturally disturbed areas such as roadsides,
power-line right of ways or open fields (Wilson, unpublished).
When I first began searching for this plant I looked in the open
grassy areas near woods and along drainages areas [outside of
woods] as described by others and as noted on herbarium sheets,
e.g. Texas International Speedway. Though I found some plants,
mostly at the beginning of drainage areas from the grassy fields
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