''Platanthera psycodes'', commonly called lesser purple fringed orchid or small purple-fringed orchid, is a species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

, genus ''

Platanthera The genus ''Platanthera'' belongs to the subfamily Orchidoideae of the family Orchidaceae, and comprises about 150 species of orchids. The members of this genus, known as the butterfly orchids or fringed orchids, were previously included in the ...

'', occurring from

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(from

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) to the east-central and northeastern

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(

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Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

). It is imperiled in

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, and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''psycodes'' is a misspelling of ''psychodes'', which means "butterfly-like", probably alluding to the shape of the flowers. Like many other orchids it is a plant of wet habitats: sedge meadows, flatwoods, sphagnum bogs, cedar or alder swamps, on stream edges or the moist edges of coniferous forests. It is occasionally found in wet swales adjoining freshwater sandy beaches. Preferring cooler habitats, its range is being pushed northwards as global temperatures warm. Correll refers to locations of altitudes in Vermont, altitudes in Virginia and altitudes in North Carolina and Tennessee. It is often confused with its relative, ''Platanthera grandiflora'', which generally has larger flowers (lip or labellum long), and has a circular nectary opening, compared to ''P. psycodes'' which has smaller flowers (the labellum measuring from long) and an oblong or almost rectangular opening. The most important characteristic separating the two species is the shape of the column and relative placement of the pollinia on the pollinators. In ''P. psycodes'' the column is shaped such that the pollinia are attached to the proboscis of the pollinator whereas in ''P. grandiflora'' the column is larger and the viscidia of the pollinia are widely spaced and outwardly rotated. This results in the pollinia being placed on the eyes of the pollinator. ''P. grandiflora'' has a much more restricted range and where the two species do overlap in range, they are phenotypically separated, with ''P. grandiflora'' typically blooming from late June through early July while ''P. psycodes'' blooms from late July through early August.

References

*Correll, Donovan S.. ''Native Orchids of North America North of Mexico''. Waltham: Chronica Botanica Co.. 1950 *

External links

* * * psycodes Orchids of Canada Orchids of the United States Orchids of Kentucky Orchids of Maryland Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Orchidoideae-stub