Spiranthes laciniata (Small) Ames

Locations ofSpiranthes laciniata (Small) Ames in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Orchidaceae
Botanical Name
Spiranthes laciniata (Small) Ames
Common Name
Lace-lip Ladies'-tresses
Synonym(s)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
In Taxa Not Treated: Unverified Taxa
Comments
Known in Virginia from two M.L. Fernald specimens collected on July 24, 1941, from the eastern shore of Lake Drummond (Great Dismal Swamp), an area where Fernald documented other rarities, including Lachnanthes caroliniana and Xyris fimbriata. Originally identified as the very similar Spiranthes vernalis, the specimens were later annotated to S. laciniata by Paul Catling. Across its range, S. laciniata inhabits a variety of seasonally inundated, often peaty wetlands including Carolina bays, margins of natural ponds and lakes, cypress depressions, and interdune freshwater marshes. The once extensive seasonal drawn-down shores of Lake Drummond have now been nearly entirely lost to decades of intentional maintenance of high water levels via water control structures. Spiranthes laciniata is likely extirpated from Lake Drummond but should be sought in other appropriate habitat in extreme southeast Virginia. The species ranges from New Jersey to Texas on the Coastal Plain but is largely absent from the Embayed Region in Maryland, Virginia, and northern North Carolina. However, the Lake Drummond occurrence, albeit historical, suggests that there is potential for other isolated occurrences in the region.
Habitat
"Thicket bordering wet sandy and peaty shore," near entrance to Portsmouth Ditch on eastern side of Lake Drummond, Great Dismal Swamp.
Native Status
Native

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