Spiranthes magnicamporum Sheviak 1973
Photos by © K. R. Robertson
TYPE Drawing by © Elmer W Smith/Sheviak and Bot. Mus. Leafl. 23: 289 pl 22 Sheviak 1973
Common Name The Large Field Spiranthes - The Great Plains Ladies Tresses
Flower Size .12 to 1/2" [.4 to 1.2 cm]
Found in Manitoba and Ontario Canada as well as Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Minnisota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Lousiana, Oklamaha and New Mexico in wet and dry alkaline prairies, bluffs and in fens as a small to large sized, cold growing terrestrial with a basal rosette of 2 to 4, linear-oblanceolate, ascending to spreading, acute, cuneate below leaves that are not present at blooming which occurs in the fall on an erect, terminal, peduncle 4 to 25.4" [10 to 63 cm] long, rachis 1.6 to 7.2" [4 to 18 cm] long, held in a tight to loose spiral, 12 to 54 flowered inflorescence with ovate, attenuate, shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying fragrant flowers.
Similar to Spiranthes cernua but S magnicamporum has larger flowers, the lip is uniformly oblong-ovate to rhombic-ovate and is without a dilated base as in S cernua which produces a lip with a median constriction. The central portion of the lip always presents a prominent thickening and the crisping of the lip is less marked than in S cernua. The flowers of S magnicamporum are cream colored or nearly so with the central thickening often yellow instead of all white flowers that is usual for S cernua. The flowers are strongly fragrant of coumarin versus S cernus which is gernerally scentless, but if aromatic it is very faint and reminiscent of Cypripedium roots.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Bot. Mus. Leafl. 23: 287 Sheviak 1973
Bot. Mus. Leafl. 23: 289 pl 22 Sheviak 1973 drawing fide
The Native Orchids of the United States and Canada Luer 1975 drawing/photos fide;
Wild Orchids of the Prairies and the Great Plains Region Of North America P M Brown 2006 photo fide
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
