ken hull and i went on another day excursion for native orchid photography in the hazelton, pa area. some of you may know the spot... there is a huge industrial complex, and underneath some power lines are quite a few platanthera ciliaris, platanthera blephariglottis var. blephariglottis and many of their hybrids. ken had visited this spot last year in 90F heat, and there were many less plants because of the drought.
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both sides of the path approaching the main orchid area
mostly yellow fringed orchis flowers
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you have to look very closely to try and tell if the flowers are straight species or hybrids. blephariglottis (northern white fringed) lips tend to be fairly narrow and the fringing cups downwards and ciliaris the lip is often wider in comparison and the fringing longer and extending outwards. the sepal cap is also not as downwardly-cupped as ciliaris or it's hybrids. there is no way from looking to be absolutely sure, of course that a plant is a species or a hybrid when there is a well-mixed population
mostly platanthera blephariglottis var. blephariglottis (northern white-fringed orchis)
..
..
..
it is often fairly easy to quickly look at a plant in a mixed population and say 'it's a hybrid' often because it looks dirty or slightly orange (or more-so), or a plant will have slightly orange flowers and a white lip, or any combination of white/orange coloration
ken getting a closeup of a p. ciliaris with his new digital camera and lens
(part 2 coming soon)
both sides of the path approaching the main orchid area
mostly yellow fringed orchis flowers
you have to look very closely to try and tell if the flowers are straight species or hybrids. blephariglottis (northern white fringed) lips tend to be fairly narrow and the fringing cups downwards and ciliaris the lip is often wider in comparison and the fringing longer and extending outwards. the sepal cap is also not as downwardly-cupped as ciliaris or it's hybrids. there is no way from looking to be absolutely sure, of course that a plant is a species or a hybrid when there is a well-mixed population
mostly platanthera blephariglottis var. blephariglottis (northern white-fringed orchis)
it is often fairly easy to quickly look at a plant in a mixed population and say 'it's a hybrid' often because it looks dirty or slightly orange (or more-so), or a plant will have slightly orange flowers and a white lip, or any combination of white/orange coloration
ken getting a closeup of a p. ciliaris with his new digital camera and lens
(part 2 coming soon)
