Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanthera ciliaris
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 Yellow Fringed Orchid from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Read more and see some beautiful photographs on Jim Fowler's blog: "Orchids in Transylvania County, North Carolina" (August 2013) and "Weekend orchid hunting along the Carolina coastal plain" (August 2016).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera ciliaris
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Platanthera ciliaris
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-014:
Habenaria ciliaris FAMILY Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Blephariglottis ciliaris
COMMON NAME:
Yellow Fringed Orchid
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_blci2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm230523_3329
May Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230523_3331
May Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm190726_0210
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm190726_0225
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm190726_0244
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4384
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4385
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_p_ciliaris_2117
July Cocke County TN
Foothills Parkway
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_ciliaris_39
July
)
Betsy George bmg080322_9440
August Henderson County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm160816_511
August Oconee County SC
The lower third of the stem bears a few narrow pointed leaves, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160816_516
August Oconee County SC
A dorsal sepal acts as a "hood" and 2 lateral sepals are reflexed, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160816_517
August Oconee County SC
Each flower has a spur 2-3x as long as the lip, which forms the nectary, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm200808_6945
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2462
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2463
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Leaves on the upper stem are tiny and almost like bracts, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2469
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Half-inch-long narrow lip completely bordered by a fine feathery fringing, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm220806_9477
August Henderson County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm220806_9508
August Henderson County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Jim Fowler jafpci_0008
August-September Berkeley County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
)
Harry Davis hld627_crw_7700
September Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0510g_22
October Oconee County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanthera ciliaris
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera ciliaris
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Platanthera ciliaris
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-014:
Habenaria ciliaris
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Blephariglottis ciliaris
627
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: pine savannas, moist roadbanks, meadows, pastures, bogs, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in GA Coastal Plain) (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, with floral bracts upward
FLOWER:
Summer
Yellow/Orange
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:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p227
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p216
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p118
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p377
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p182
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p048
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p273
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p443
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p186
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p176
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p049
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p403
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p126
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p399
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p458
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p424
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p026
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p198
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".