Smoky ladies' tresses
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Spiranthes
Species:
S. x kapnosperia
Binomial name
Spiranthes x kapnosperia
M.C. Pace

Spiranthes x kapnospria, the smoky ladies' tresses, is a species of orchid growing in North America.

Description

Spiranthes x kapnosperia reach a height of 50cm. They have 1–4 leaves that usually persist through flowering (but may then soon start to wilt). The leaf shape is linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, rarely obovate, 7–23 cm long and 1–2 cm wide. Flowers are arranged in a tight spiral around the stem and strongly nodding, with 3–4 flowers per cycle. Like all Spiranthes each flower head has 3 sepals (with the dorsal sepal at the top) and 3 petals (with the labellum at the bottom). The sepals and petals are white to ivory with the labellum centrally yellowish. The tips of the lateral sepals are typically incurved over the top of the dorsal sepal and side petals.

They flower mid September to early October in the northern portion of their range and late September to late October in the southern portion.

Spiranthes x kapnosperia looks similar to several other spiranthes species, in particular S. cernua and S. ochroleuca. The flowers of S. kapnosperia appear more ivory than white compared to S. cernua though (hard to see in the field, but when compared side-by-side) and the labellum is more yellow. Compared to S. ochroleuca the lateral sepals look different – they are straight with inward curved tips in S. kapnosperia but falcate and not incurved in S. ochroleuca.

Distribution and habitat

Spiranthes kapnosperia has been found in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Michigan, North Carolina, Indiana and Illinois and likely also occur in Kentucky and Tennessee. [1]

They prefer acidic, dry to mesic successional habitats, seeps, open barrens and old fields. They are also found in thickets undergoing succession to oak-hickory or mixed hardwood-pine forests. [1]

Taxonomy

Spiranthes x kapnosperia was first described in 2017 as the name for hybrids of Spiranthes cernua and S. ochroleuca[2]. Charles Sheviak and other researchers had long suggested these species hybridized, but no name was proposed. The name Spiranthes sheviakii[3] was proposed in 2021 as an additional name for hybrids of S. cernua and S. ochroleuca, however hybrid combinations may have only one name, per The Code. Thus, S. sheviakii is a synonym of S. x kapnosperia[4]. Based on molecular patterns, it is hypothesized that this hybrid formed at least twice, likely in different regions.

References

  1. 1 2 "Spiranthes sheviakii". Plants of the Northeastern United States. Michael Hough. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  2. ↑ Pace, Matthew C.; Cameron, Kenneth M. (2017-12-18). "The Systematics of the Spiranthes cernua Species Complex (Orchidaceae): Untangling the Gordian Knot". Systematic Botany. 42 (4): 640–669. doi:10.1600/036364417X696537. S2CID 90432295.
  3. ↑ Hough, M. "A systematic survey of the Spiranthes cernua species complex (Orchidaceae) in New York". The Native Orchid Conference Journal. 18 (3): 22–56.
  4. ↑ Pace, Matthew C. (2023-05-19). "Independent origins of Spiranthes ×kapnosperia (Orchidaceae) and their nomenclatural implications". PhytoKeys (226): 89–100. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.226.100062. ISSN 1314-2003. PMC 10220495. PMID 37249925.

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