Cranefly Orchid

(Tipularia discolor)

 

   

 

Color Photographs: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor [Pursh] Nutt.)

Identification: Flowers greenish-red with an extremely long rear spur. Petals elongate, relatively undifferentiated, radiating around the flower. Flowers arranged in a loose, elongate spike. Stem red. Plant with a single large, ovate-elongate basal leaf, leafs tinged with purple. Leaf appearing in the fall after the flower stalk disappears. Plant arising from a corm. Plant 15 to 20 inches in height.

Distribution: Local but found throughout most of the eastern United States.

Habitat: Cranefly Ochid is a woodland species.

Flowering period: July to August.

Similar Species: The extremely long rear spur, the spindly red-green flowers, and the single, large basal leaf should easily identify this species.

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