north american native orchid journal - at The Culture Sheet

Brown & Folsom: WILD ORCHIDS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE
Platanthera lacera (Michaux) G. Don
green fringed orchis, ragged orchis
Range: Manitoba east to Newfoundland, south to Texas and Georgia
In the White Mountains region: scattered to occasional on roadsides
and old fields
Plant: terrestrial, 20-80 cm tall
Leaves: 3-6; cauline, lanceolate, keeled, 2.5-5.0 cm wide × 8-24 cm
long, passing into bracts
Flowers: 12-40+, highly variable; arranged in a loose-to-dense
terminal raceme; sepals obovate, the petals oblong, upright,
usually with entire margins; lip three-parted and deeply lacerate;
perianth various of green to nearly yellow or white; individual
flower size ca. 1.5-3.0 cm, not including the 1.6-2.3 cm spur, the
orifice nearly square
Habitat: open wet meadows, roadside ditches and seeps,
mountain meadows
Flowering period: late June-early August
The least conspicuous of the fringed orchises, Platanthera lacera is
scattered throughout the region. It can be found throughout the
summer in damp meadows, open wet woods, and roadside ditches.
Flower color is highly variable in many shades of green and some
plants are nearly white. In many places P. lacera is found growing
with either or both P. grandiflora and P. psycodes. Those plants
whose flowers show a wash of lavender may represent hybrids with
either P. psycodes (P. ×andrewsii) or P. grandiflora (P. ×keenanii).
The hillsides along highways can be frustrating when you are
trying to sight orchids especially if the road is busy. Catching a glimpse of a
possible orchid requires adroit maneuvering to pull over and park to explore. The first
sighting of ragged fringed occurred this way. The yield however was mind boggling once
the area was explored.
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