Thursday, August 4, 2011

Platanthera transversa at Washington Park


On a previous outing to Washington Park in the spring we had seen the glossy leaves of a Platanthera growing along the trails.  It was tentatively identified at that time as Platanthera ephemerantha (Slender White Piperia).  I made a mental note of the locations and determined that I would go back later in the summer to see the plants in flower.


I finally made the trip on July 18th and found the plants but discovered that they were not Platanthera ephemerantha, but Platanthera transversa, the Flat-spurred Piperia, a species I had not seen before.  The leaves were gone now, as is common with the Piperias, but there were many more plants than I remembered, all in flower.




It was quite a windy day, but I was able to get some decent photos both of the plants and of their habitat.  They were growing in rather bright, dry, but mossy areas with a light tree cover and their white and green flowers made then very visible, though their spikes were less than a foot tall, and the flowers quite tiny.

2 comments:

Upupaepops said...

these are not theones down on greenpoint I see.

I have a mystery one from today I will post on flicker. Has me confused for id, so I came here to see itf you list it.

Ron said...

Not a Piperia but the Pad-leaved Orchis, Platanthera orbiculata, a very nice find, though I'm a bit confused by the reference to six inch plants - ordinarily this grows to about two feet, but the flowers can't be anything else.