after we finished up at the hammond hill state forest, a few of us went in different directions. matt young and tom nelson went to another fen to see the platanthera flava and others, while nyeric and I went to bob's barbecue for some fine dinner! (and dessert) right about the time we finished eating and cleaning up all of the stray sauce, matt called and asked which way we were headed. we all headed to one of the areas that there quite a few platanthera grandiflora, or the greater purple fringed orchid. there are two types of purple orchids that flower a few weeks apart, and this is the first one. the plants usually have very bright purple flowers that are larger than the later species. purple fringed means 'mud' and sometimes 'bugs'...
eric and I arrived at the purple fringed site before the others, so eric suited up with his high boots and bug spray!
I'd made him nervous with all the talk about upstate ny mosquitos so he lathered up pretty heavily
eric holding his parasol, or more accurately tom nelson's light bouncing umbrella. tom was taking a picture of one of the large purple fringed orchids and eric was helping with tom's equipment
larger purple fringed
this plant was a ways down the slope near the flat area of the fen. I noticed this one in particular, because it was much lighter in color than all of the rest of the plants. also, if you look at the fringing of the lip and petals, this plant had much more fringing than usual, and I had thoughts that this might be a potential hybrid between platanthera grandiflora and platanthera lacera or the ragged fringed orchid, which can be found a little later within a few miles of this site. the fringing looks a bit more like p. lacera over the top of grandiflora, but I don't know how you would definitively tell if it were a hybrid or not
two nice plants down in the woods
a canada lily bud
eric callender (nyeric), matt young and tom nelson and the large purple fringed orchid in the front middle
two beautiful plants in deep cover, with some rays of sun shining through the thickets
"you know matt, it's okay to admit if we're lost!"
last look and close-up
next installment coming soon!
eric and I arrived at the purple fringed site before the others, so eric suited up with his high boots and bug spray!
I'd made him nervous with all the talk about upstate ny mosquitos so he lathered up pretty heavily
eric holding his parasol, or more accurately tom nelson's light bouncing umbrella. tom was taking a picture of one of the large purple fringed orchids and eric was helping with tom's equipment
larger purple fringed
this plant was a ways down the slope near the flat area of the fen. I noticed this one in particular, because it was much lighter in color than all of the rest of the plants. also, if you look at the fringing of the lip and petals, this plant had much more fringing than usual, and I had thoughts that this might be a potential hybrid between platanthera grandiflora and platanthera lacera or the ragged fringed orchid, which can be found a little later within a few miles of this site. the fringing looks a bit more like p. lacera over the top of grandiflora, but I don't know how you would definitively tell if it were a hybrid or not
two nice plants down in the woods
a canada lily bud
eric callender (nyeric), matt young and tom nelson and the large purple fringed orchid in the front middle
two beautiful plants in deep cover, with some rays of sun shining through the thickets
"you know matt, it's okay to admit if we're lost!"
last look and close-up
next installment coming soon!
