Spiranthes tuberosa Raf. 1833 Photo by © Lourens Grobler

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Common Name The Tuber Spiranthes - In USA The Little Ladies' Tresses

Flower Size .12 to .16" [3 to 4 mm]

Found in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connetticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas in dry fields, cemetaries and roadsides as a mini-miniature to small sized, cold growing terrestrial with 2 to 4, ovate, dark green leaves that are not present at blooming occuring in the late spring and early summer on a terminal, erect, 4 to 12" [10 to 30 cm] long, single ranked, spiraled or secund, 10 to 35 flowered inflorescence carrying fragrant flowers

Synonyms Gyrostachys grayi Britton 1907; Spiranthes grayi Ames 1904; Spiranthes simplex A.Gray 1867; Spiranthes tuberosa var. grayi (Ames) Fernald 1946; Triorchis grayi (Ames) Nieuwl. 1913

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Native Orchids of Florida Luer 1972 as S grayii drawing/photos fide; The Native Orchids of the United States and Canada Luer 1975 drawing/photos fide; Schlechteriana Vol 4 No 4 1993; Wild Orchids of the Northeastern United States PM Brown 1993 drawing/photo fide; Wild Orchids of the Southeastern United States North of Penninsular Florida PM Brown 2004 drawing/photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 81 #6 2012 photo fide;

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