The Joyful Botanist: A Nod to the Ladies
The flower petals of the ladies’ tresses orchid are white, and upon close examination appear crystalline, almost sugary like icing.
Adam Bigelow photo
In unmown yards and along roadsides across the mountains, there will sprout a delightful fall treasure that is among the last native wildflowers to bloom in the season. Ladies’ tresses orchids (Spiranthes spp.) spiral their way out of the ground to grow in full sun, even as the seasonal changes bring lower and less intense sunlight.
The genus name Spiranthes refers to how the flowers of ladies’ tresses are usually arranged in a spiral along the stem. It is a small delight to see their blooms arise along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mown sides of the road, and an unnecessary tragedy to see them succumb to the mowers’ blades.
Ladies’ tresses orchid petals are white, and upon close examination appear crystalline, almost sugary like icing. Trust me, though, you wouldn’t want to lick this frosting. You do, however, want bend down, get close and personal and take a long whiff to smell if it is fragrant, as many species of ladies’ tresses are sweet with scents hinting at jasmine and vanilla.
Across the state there are 16 species of Spiranthes, and nine different species can be found in mountain counties, although a few of them are rare. Among the most commonly seen is the nodding ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes cernua) that grows in all but a handful of counties across North Carolina, from the mountains to the sea.
This short orchid, from 9 to 24 inches is happy in all conditions except dry sites. Nodding ladies’ tresses love to live in bogs and wet places often forming small colonies. They also come up in meadows, lawns and the aforementioned roadsides. No matter where they’re growing, they need frequent water, and there will be an associated mycorrhizal fungi species in the soil around them.
As I’ve written about before (see SMN June 25, 2024, Orchidaceous!) all members of the orchid family produce seeds that require help in germinating. That help comes in the form of specialized fungi that have co-evolved with orchids and provide initial energy to aid in the growing of the first roots and leaves produced from the seed. They do this by wrapping around and penetrating into the seed and are known as endomycorrhizal fungi. The prefix “endo-“ means inside, “myco” means mushroom or fungi, and the suffix “-rhiza” means root.
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Ladies’ tresses orchids are pollinated primarily by bumble bees (Bombus spp.) and I just learned from the North American Orchid Conservation Center that the bumbles will start at the base of the flower stalk and work their way up as the lower and older flowers on the stalk will contain more nectar. Makes for efficient nectaring.
The flowers of nodding ladies’ tresses are densely packed, and it is not always easy to make out the spiral arrangement. That is far from the case for slender ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes lacera) whose flowers form a single line spinning upwards around the vertical axis of the stem. It looks almost too perfect in its spiraling. This is the one you’ll see growing in dry sites.
Identifying ladies’ tresses orchids to the different species can be tricky and involves looking into the tube of the flower to see what color the lip is, be it white, yellow or green. As the flowers are small and the plant is low growing, this often involves being on your hands and knees with a good magnifier. Many a botanist has had their picture taken in this unflattering position that would make many ladies blush.
(The Joyful Botanist leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
