View Full Version : Plant ID requested
This just appeared in a friend's strawberry "patch". She's lived and gardened most of her life in central Florida but never encountered this before.
The flower is whiter in person; it looks like a white grape hyacinth bloom. There is no bulb but roots; the stem is soft and much like a portulaca. The leaves are very tough. Any clues?
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=55496&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=55496&ppuser=17055)
Stumped you all? It's not like nobody read this thread so apparently I did. I have 3 small starts; I guess I'll pot them up when I get back to Jville and go from there.
chipboy44
12-29-2013, 12:35 AM
I am sorry that I do not know the name of this plant for you. But it is one of few native terrestrial orchids. Look very close at the petals and you will see that it is indeed an orchid. I live in Daytona Beach and you see them here and there all the time in the summer. Actually they are as far south as Miami, I have seen them there. I grew up in Jacksonville as a child and I remember pulling them in the woods on the way home from school.
Salute'
rick
chong
12-29-2013, 02:06 AM
When I saw the picture in my email, I instinctively thought it was a type of orchid and Googled FL orchids and found these before I opened the Banana.org link:
White fringed orchid. (Platanthera blephariglottis v. conspicua) Information Page at Florida's Native and Naturalized Orchids (http://www.flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/platanthera_blephariglottis.htm)
Snowy Orchid, Bog Torch (Platanthera nivea) Information Page at Florida's Native and Naturalized Orchids (http://www.flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/platanthera_nivea.htm)
Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers: A Guide to Common Wildflowers of the ... - Gil Nelson - Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=WaSqAq97u1UC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=platanthera+blephariglottis+v+conspicua&source=bl&ots=SiPtU7mxg_&sig=Mz7zjznX6fp-U5JZwIE4bFb56qc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sMO_UuPKFofxoATn6ICACw&ved=0CF8Q6AEwDg#v=onepage&q=platanthera%20blephariglottis%20v%20conspicua&f=false)
They appear to be close to the pictures in your post, which supports Rick's response.
Chong
Thanks! I'll pass this information to the owner. She's very interested in native varieties; she also raises orchids.
Dangermouse01
12-29-2013, 11:22 AM
I think I have the same mystery plant. I found it growing either in my yard or in a pot after I had re-potted something. Didn't know what it was so I gave it it's own pot until I could figure out whether it was a weed or something worth keeping. Mine just started blooming this last week.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n200/dangermouse2006/flowers%20and%20plants/Misc/mystery-plant1_12-29-2013_zpsb705ac90.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n200/dangermouse2006/flowers%20and%20plants/Misc/mystery-plant2_12-29-2013_zpsce64cbcd.jpg
DM
EDIT:
Response I received from another site about what mine are, "It is one of the Ladiestresses, ground orchids in the genus Spiranthes"
That's it! In my defense, I did not take the picture I posted but yours is spot on and crystal clear!
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