Distribution

Description

Flowering	summer.
Height	30-110 cm.
Inflorescence	spikelike raceme.
Leaves	few to many; blade lanceolate to linear-ovate; bracts reduced distally.
Flowers	white to green to yellow; lip divided into three primary lobes, central lobe often divided into two secondary lobes; lip margin fringed; sepal margins entire.
Spur	terete to club shaped.
Rostellum	lobes oriented downward.
Viscidia	circular to subcircular.

Described hybrids

Hybrid	Second Parent
P. x reznicekii Catling, Brownell and G. Allen	P.psycodes

Habitat

Wet prairies, fens, wet calcareous woods, seepy areas.

Conservation and Wetland Status

Threatened and Endangered Status

State or country	Status
United States	Threatened
Illinois	Endangered
Indiana	Extirpated
Iowa	Endangered
Maine	Endangered
Michigan	Endangered
Missouri	Endangered
New York	Endangered
Ohio	Threatened
Pennsylvania	Extirpated
Wisconsin	Endangered

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Synonyms

Orchis leucophaea Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 161. 1834;

Habenaria leucophaea (Nuttall) A. Gray

Chromosome number

2n = 42

Pollinators

Sphingidae

Author and publication information for name

Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl. 294. 1835.

Vernacular name

Prairie Fringed Orchid

Link to Interactive Platanthera key

http://utc.usu.edu/keys/Platanthera/Platanthera.html

References

C. J. Sheviak  (2003). Flora of North America, Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales.  Vol. 26:496-571. Oxford University Press.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. PLANTS Database. http://plants.usda.gov/index.html.   Accessed primarily in July 2006.