north american native orchid journal - at The Culture Sheet

Pelchat: SPIRANTHES PARKSII CORRELL – NAVASOTA LADIES’-TRESSES
The plants I have observed are from 21 cm to 25 cm tall
with the flowers taking up the top 7 cm - 8 cm of the spike (Fig.
2). They are in 4 ranked coils of 14 to 30 flowers that spiral
counterclockwise looking down on the top of the plant. The
plants tend to have the flowers concentrated more at the top of
the rachis twisting, generally, in a CCW direction forming 4 ranks
giving the rachis a symmetrical appearance. In contrast S. lacera
var. gracilis tends to have a single rank forming a long spiral to the
top for most of the length of the rachis. There are no leaves
present at anthesis, but I have observed the leaves of plants in the
springtime and they form basal rosettes of 2 to 3 lance like elliptic
shaped leaves (Fig. 7). It should be noted that I find the number,
size and dimensions of leaves for Spiranthes spp. to be quite
variable depending on the time of year observed, the amount of
moisture present and apparently the amount of nutrients in the
soil. Plants of S. vernalis grown in pots and fed high nitrogen
fertilizer have produced over 8 large grass like leaves along with
one large bract like leaf on the spike that have sustained through
anthesis compared to the 4 to 5 often observed in the field.
These observations suggest that identification of S. parksii based
on vegetative characteristics of the rosettes is highly unlikely
unless the plants were specifically marked while in bloom.
The flowers and most of the rachis are covered in a fine
pubescence, the apex of which is tipped with a ball or club. The
same pubescence is found on S. cernua but S. lacera var. gracilis is
essentially glabrous. The characteristically obovate petals, (Correll
1947), are also easily seen in the field through the lens of the
camera or with a 10x loupe. The lip is presented in such away
that the apex has a cleft and the center leading inward to the
column is padded on each side and creamy yellow in color, (this
coloring is also described by Catling & McIntosh 1979). The
margins of the lip are ragged and tooth like or in botanical terms
dentate compared to the crenulate (scalloped or round toothed)
and undulate (wavy) appearance of S. cernua. Small pubescent
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