native orchid trip day two (part 1)

[cnycharles]

today we started looking for orchids in riverhead, l.i. unfortunately for us, it rained a little last night and warmed up a bit, so it was very humid. our camera lenses fogged up, and took a bit before we could take any pictures that weren't fuzzy. our first stop brought us to a few spiranthes tuberosa, which are tiny orchids that are pure white. I think the cool, cloudy weather this area has had for a while delayed these flowers, as there were nearly a hundred or more a few years ago, but only a few handfuls with few of them with any number of open flowers at all. they really like the warmth, and a few will even grow between the cracks of the pavement. later on we moved on to a spot where there was only one plant of platanthera cristata, and a preserve near montauk that had many platanthera pallida (or platanthera cristata var. or subsp. pallida, depending on your side of the fence), and a good number of threadleaf sundew. later on we made it to another cemetery in eastern connecticut where there were many spiranthes lacera var. gracilis (southern slender ladies tresses) and possibly some spiranthes vernalis. last time the vernalis had very robust flowers, and they look a bit slim to me this year, like they might be hybrids of vernalis and gracilis which is very fine. I didn't see any plants/flowers that really looked to me like the vernalis I had seen before, but it could just be the season.

pics will be split up between two threads

spiranthes tuberosa; barely flowering plants are very hard to see in the grass

platanthera cristata, single plant next to the road

 

[NYEric]

Good eyes, as usual!

 

[JeanLux]

so cool, these neat white blooms!!! Jean

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Neat seeing those southerners at the northern end of their ranges. Thanks for the look!

 

[SlipperFan]

Makes me wonder how many orchids I miss seeing around here!

 

[cnycharles]

Good eyes, as usual!

thanks, but I forgot to mention that when I was there three years ago, there were at least four orange crested orchis there and one hybrid between orange and white fringed, but this year just the one plant. it looked like they had mowed the area further into the woods where this one was, and other before, in hopes that more will come up there. I was just reading about down south where on the maryland eastern shore they did a prescribed(?) (planned) burn, and more orange crested and whites came up plus some hybrids they hadn't seen in a long time. maybe this spot needs to have some sort of burn to clean it up a bit

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

thanks, but I forgot to mention that when I was there three years ago, there were at least four orange crested orchis there and one hybrid between orange and white fringed, but this year just the one plant. it looked like they had mowed the area further into the woods where this one was, and other before, in hopes that more will come up there. I was just reading about down south where on the maryland eastern shore they did a prescribed(?) (planned) burn, and more orange crested and whites came up plus some hybrids they hadn't seen in a long time. maybe this spot needs to have some sort of burn to clean it up a bit

Charles, I have seen what a prescribed burn can do to invigorate fire dependent ecosystems in Florida. A friend of mine worked in a state forest there and by the time he arrived much of the 20,000+ acres was in dire need of a burn. I remember vividly one seepage slope over run with bay trees and oaks. He prescribed a burn, and after the fire the area opened up considerably and "out of nowhere" all kinds of species showed up: fields of wiregrass, Sarracenia, Polygala, and orchids - Cliestes bifaria, Calopogon tuberosus, Pogonia ophioglossiodies, and Platenthera cristata - to mention a few. The transformation was incredible because it took only one season. All of those plants lay dormant for years in the sandy peat soils, waiting for a good burn.