Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Hexalectris spicata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Hexalectris from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hexalectris spicata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Hexalectris spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)
Hexalectris spicata var. spicata
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Hexalectris spicata
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-19-001:
Hexalectris spicata FAMILY Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hexalectris spicata
COMMON NAME:
Crested Coralroot, Spiked Crested Coralroot, Brunetta
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hesp3_001_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_h_spicata_4_s
June?
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_hexalectris_spicata_2
June?
Flowers yellowish-brown with brown-purple streaks and a purplish lip, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Jim Fowler jafhexalectr_close030708
July Barnwell County SC
Yellow & purple flowers on a brown stem present a peculiar color combination, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
)
Jim Fowler jafhexalectr_group030708
July Barnwell County SC
Resembles Corallorhiza but larger in all respects; scape to 30" tall or more, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Bill Stringer wcs_spikedcrestedcoralrt
July Greenwood County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Hexalectris spicata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hexalectris spicata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Hexalectris spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Hexalectris spicata var. spicata
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Hexalectris spicata
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-19-001:
Hexalectris spicata
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hexalectris spicata
673
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry forests and woodlands, especially over mafic or calcareous rocks, such as diabase, gabbro, calcareous siltstone, and dolomite (though sometimes in distinctly acid situations), shell middens, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple - scale-like, sheathing
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellowish-brown with brownish streaks and a purplish lip
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
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p231
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p286
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p432
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p348
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p133
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p180
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p401
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005) p088
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p395
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p024
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