Tag Archives: Liparis

And Another Orchid

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Once again, my friend K (the orchid whisperer) sent me a photo of an orchid blooming. The story is not dissimilar to the last one, so I’ll spare you the narrative and get right to the facts.

<—do you see them? they aren’t easy to find!

Liparis liliifolia grows in a large variety of habitats, wet and dry, soils more or less acidic. But mostly it likes disturbed areas, for example where there’s more sunlight due to a tree falling; however, populations will decline after a few years as the forest canopy closes in again.

Like showy orchis and pink lady’s slipper, it sports two basal leaves. The single flowering stem can bear up to 30 flowers.

Currently the Maryland DNR ranks large twayblade S2S3 (S2=imperiled/state rare; S3=vulnerable/watchlist). It’s endangered in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island, and threatened in Massachusetts and Vermont.

 

 

Common names include large twayblade, purple twayblade, lily-leaved twayblade, brown widelip orchid, russet-witch, and mauve sleekwort.

I can’t get over that translucent lip.

 

 

 

 

 

distribution map from USDA PLANTS Database

When One Color Isn’t Enough (part 2)

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Thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit and solid rain makes for a dreary day outside, but it’s hygge in my parlor, with a fire in the wood stove and chili on the kitchen stove, and lots of wildflower pictures on my computer. Here are some of the summer-blooming ones.

Phryma leptostachya (lopseed; Phrymaceae)

This is a very small flower – you need good eyesight or a hand lens to make out the colored structures on the upper petal – but the plants are fairly large, about two feel tall with large leaves and a long terminal flower spike (sometimes there are a few axillary spikes as well). The flowers open for a short period of time in mid July.

Polygala sanguinea (field milkwort, purple milkwort; Polygalaceae)

Most of the Maryland Biodiversity Project records for this annual species are in the piedmont and northern coastal plain. The plants seem to like dry, sunny conditions, and bloom in mid summer.

Justicia americana (water-willow; Acanthaceae)

This aquatic plant grows in large masses in shallow waters. When the river level drops in mid summer you can get close enough to see the flowers in detail. Individual flowers last only a few days, but overall a colony will flower for several months.

Lindernia dubia (false pimpernel; Linderniaceae, formerly Scrophulariaceae)

A tiny little flower on low-growing, weedy-looking plants that are mudflat ephemerals, emerging from river banks when the water level gets low at the height of summer. You have to be a real botanerd to appreciate these.

Liparis liliifolia (purple twayblade; Orchidaceae)
<—cleeck-ay moi!

Ah, orchids. Infinitely fascinating. This one blooms in late spring, in undisturbed forest areas. It’s listed S2S3 (state rare) in Maryland. If you find a stand be sure to report it to the Maryland Biodiversity Project!

 

Phyla lanceolata (fogfruit; Verbenaceae)

This sprawling perennial forms large stands in the very wet soils next to streams and ponds. As with everything else on this page, you have to get up-close to really see and appreciate how complex the colors are. Colonies will have a few flowers (or a lot of flowers) open for most of early to mid summer.

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (narrow-leaved mountain mint; Lamiaceae)

The one area where I find these tall, slender plants growing is rocky and sunny and close to the Potomac, so it seems that there is always a tiny breeze moving the plants around. One year the stand was mowed down, presumably by people clearing the trail. Another year it was flooded out. One of these years I will finally get a crystal-clear closeup of the tiny flowers.

Two Leaves

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Thursday, May 18: one more trip to Rachel Carson Conservation Park to find and photograph the elusive large twayblade. Thanks to detailed directions from a friend, I found a nice group of the plants, about half of which were in bloom.

Also know as purple twayblade, brown wide-lip orchid, and mauve sleekwort, Liparis liliifolia is one of our native orchids. The two large basal leaves stand a few inches tall, while the flowering stem (a raceme) stands up to about a foot tall and produces as many as thirty flowers.

The lowest flowers open first. A colony of large twayblade will bloom for about two to three weeks.

 

All orchid flowers have three sepals and three petals, although in some species these parts are so highly modified they may not be recognizable as such. In large twayblade, the lowest petal is modified into a wide labellum (lip); the two lateral petals are very narrow and droop down inconspicuously.


You can see the two lower sepals through the labellum, which is so thin it’s actually translucent.

Large twayblade can be found in the Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic, New England, and northernmost parts of the South. It’s threatened in Massachusetts and Vermont, and endangered in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. In Maryland it’s listed as S2S3/state rare.

Look for it in rich, moist woodlands. It should still be blooming in the Maryland piedmont. The purple/brown colors of the petals and pedicels make for good camouflage against the leaf litter, but the distinctive pair of basal leaves stands out.

 

“Tway” is an obsolete word meaning “two”.