Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Habenaria repens
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy reading Orchids of the Francis Marion National Forest by Jim Fowler.
Learn more about Water-spider Orchid from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Read more and see some beautiful photographs on Jim Fowler's blog: "Weekend orchid hunting along the Carolina coastal plain" (August 2016)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Habenaria repens
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Habenaria repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Habenaria repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-006:
Habenaria repens FAMILY Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Habenaria repens
COMMON NAME:
Water-spider Orchid, Floating Orchid
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Jim Fowler jafhab_0006
May-October Berkeley County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
The petals and lip resemble spider legs splayed against the plant's sepals, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Habenaria repens
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Habenaria repens
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Habenaria repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Habenaria repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-006:
Habenaria repens
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Habenaria repens
2139
Aquatic or terrestrial; Forb
Perennial
Habitat: blackwater swamps, pools, banks of creeks and rivers, marshes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in NC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
"Leafy"
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Greenish
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
Raceme
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p324
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p466
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p151
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p452
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p098
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p401
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p084
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p292
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".