spiranthes ochroleuca (orchid) + in situ

[cnycharles]

after visiting the roadside spiranthes near oriskany, I went to the other side of rome, ny to see how the population of sp. ochroleuca were doing. friend and fellow native orchid hunter/photographer ken hull and new recruit ryan had visited a spot between camden and florence and was concerned that there weren't many ochroleuca in flower this year. I finally had a little time after work to check things out, so went to see for myself. I had thought that it was a bit early before, and I did find a number of ochroleuca in partial flower, so they likely hadn't been up and flowering yet before. there definitely were many less in two other areas, but the spot lowest near the watershed of a creek had about a dozen or so, including one very 'yellow' or butterscotch-colored ochroleuca which had some of the yellowest markings I had seen so far for this species

ochroleuca on shady road bank

can you find the orchid in this picture? I posted a similar picture in
recent years, likely of the same orchid! I was standing on the edge
of the road when I saw this spiranthes ochroleuca in a pocket between the trees

roadside bank, cernua growing where a spring seeps downhill

robust cernua variety like the ones found along rt 49

nice ochroleuca, this one has deeper yellow than most i've seen before

ochroleuca, view from top

ochrolueca, view showing downward 'spiral staircase'

view with white aster, showing contrast between white and yellow flowers

 

[cnycharles]

part two

close-up side view. note that the lateral petal curves upwards and
crosses the descending dorsal sepal, with an open 'pocket' in between;
this is a characteristic of ochroleuca

for one picture I had the camera set quite low to the ground on my
tripod, and the viewfinder of the camera was too close to the tripod
leg for me to see through. I was snapping pictures, looking at the lcd
image plate and adjusting the direction and focus. this one ended up
looking like an impressionistic painting

typical ochroleuca roadside habitat

fall dandelion

four leafed red clover

cernua and tall horsetails

variegated horsetail (I was told id)

large colony of short horsetail in the wet ditch

cernua growing amongst short horsetails

grasshopper nymph on a cernua

 

[JeanLux]

Great pics of these lovelies, thanks Charles !!!! Jean

 

[Clark]

My horsetails bit the dust this summer.
Can you grab me a clump when you come down???

Interesting mix of plants.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

I like this one more than S. cernua - the frilly lip is lovely. Great shots from above too - it really give you a feel why they are called ladies tresses.

My horsetails bit the dust this summer.
Can you grab me a clump when you come down???

Wow, I didn't realize you could kill them! Watch out if they get well established Clark, or you'll be pulling them up all over your garden. I wouldn't grow any horsetail outside a container.

 

[SlipperFan]

Always interesting, Charles!

 

[Clark]

Tom-
about those horsetails, we grew them in a large container.
And someone forgot to add water. They got dry, and the roots I imagine, got very hot.
We will replace them one way or another. Horsetails looked great on the deck, enjoyed the look/decor very much.

 

[eaborne]

Spectacular pictures!

 

[NYEric]

Oh I miss my trips in upstate NY!