Spiranthes lucida (H.H. Eaton) Ames

Shining ladies’-tresses, shining lady’s tresses

Similar species

	Spiranthes cernua	Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Common Name	common ladies’-tresses	hooded ladies’-tresses
Plant	Up to 1′ (40 cm) tall, though most of this height is the flower stalk.	2½–16″ (7–40 cm) high.
Leaves	A few long, narrow leaves occur, mostly at the base of the plant; they are 4–8″ (10–20 cm) long and ⅛–¾″ (5–20 mm) wide.	2 to 3, rarely up to 5 Basal leaves are 2½–8″ (7–20 cm) × ⅛–⅜″ (6–12 mm). Leaves are linear or lanceolate.
Flowers	The raceme (flowerhead) is up to 4½″ (12 cm) high, roughly cone-shaped, on a single stem well above the leaves. Tiny white flowers about ⅜″ (1 cm) long spiral around the spike. Flowers are tubular in shape, yellow in the center, with small sharp-tipped petals. Flowers appear between August and November.	Up to 40 flowers are arranged spirally around a nearly hairless spike ¾–6″ (2–14 cm) high. Sepals and petals are fused together, and ¼–⅜″ (8–12 mm) long. They appear from May to September. Sepals are broad and white
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Moist, boggy, acidic soils in part shade.	Open wet areas, including moist meadows, fens, marshes, bogs and prairies. They are often found nestled among sphagnum mosses.

Spiranthes lucida description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.