by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages
Orchidaceae > Tipularia (cranefly orchid) | |
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) Orange Co., NC 8 Aug 2006 One of the most common orchids in NC, Cranefly Orchid grows in wooded habitats statewide. | |
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) Orange Co., NC 8 Aug 2006 The flower stalks appear in mid to late summer, long after the leaves (which are found only from fall to spring) have disappeared. | |
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) Orange Co., NC 8 Aug 2006 A single leaf appears in the fall, after the tree canopy leaves have dropped, allowing sunlight to reach the forest floor. Tipularia leaves then photosynthesize all winter long and wither and disappear in the spring, after the emergence of the canopy leaves which block the sunlight from the forest floor. | |
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) Orange Co., NC 8 Aug 2006 The undersides of Tipularia leaves are dark purple. | |
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) Orange Co., NC 8 Aug 2006 Fruits are capsules that ripen in the fall. Seeds are tiny! |
Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; Alan Weakley's Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Supplemental resources include USDA plants website, and NatureServe.
Created on ... Oct 20, 2006 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com