68 Oklahoma Native Record Volume 3, Number 1, December 2003

Three Birds Orchid and Crane-fly Orchid in Oklahoma

Dr. Lawrence Magrath Corresponding Member, American Orchid Society Conservation Committee Former Chair, Southwestern Region Orchid Growers Association Curator, USAO (OCLA) Herbarium Chickasha, OK 73018-5358

The Three Birds Orchid or have been several other unconfirmed Nodding Pogonia, Triphora trianthophora reports in Oklahoma. In Arkansas it has (Sw.) Rydb., is one of the most beautiful been found in several counties in the jewels of the fall orchid collection in the Ozark Mountains, which cross the border eastern 1/3 of the country. It occurs from into Oklahoma. Vermont and Ontario, south to Florida, One of the reasons that so few west to Texas, and north to Michigan. people have reported seeing this delightful Pridgeon and Urbatsch (1977) cite one little orchid is probably that it blooms in collection from West Feliciana Parish in late August and early September. That is a Louisiana. time when few orchid or wildflower In Kansas it was long listed as part enthusiasts are out in the woods because of the orchid flora, based on a report by of the ticks, mosquitoes, and miserable hot Popenoe. However, no one had seen a weather. Nevertheless, it is a flower well living specimen until Rufus Thompson, an worth the trouble endured to find it. It algae specialist at the University of grows in rich mixed deciduous woodlands Kansas, discovered them in Baldwin or deciduous-pine woodlands in the deep Woods south of the City of Lawrence humus or leaf mold of moist shaded areas. (Douglas County) in late August 1971. This is often associated with other After his report several botanists from the fall flowering orchids such as University of Kansas also found it in odontorhiza and Baldwin Woods and later in several other discolor. counties. Still later, when working in the It may occur as a single stem, a herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution in few scattered stems, or as large colonies Washington, D.C., I found a specimen up to 3 feet in diameter with hundreds or collected by Popenoe in Topeka in occasionally thousands of stems, such as Shawnee County in 1876. are found at the Battiest Site in northern In Oklahoma it has been known to McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The 7-30 occur in Cleveland County in central cm (3-12 inches) produce from one Oklahoma since 1947. A collection from to six (rarely seven) flowers about the size LeFlore County in the southeastern part of of a nickel at the tip of succulent green the state was made in 1967. Since 1972 it stems. Typically the plants are about 10- has been found in Choctaw, Caddo, Adair 18 cm (4-7 inches) tall. The flowers open Counties, and most recently in Canadian white with a delicate patch formed by County by Dr. Paul Buck in 1993. There three crests or lamellae of emerald green

Magrath, L. K. https://doi.org/10.22488/okstate.17.100023 Oklahoma Native Plant Record 69 Volume 3, Number 1, December 2003 in the center of the lip. As the flowers age, been found throughout the southeastern they become flushed with pink or part of Oklahoma in colonies often lavender. When observed under numbering in the thousands. magnification the flowers appear to be According to Luer (1975) “The sculpted out of transparent or translucent plants are characterized by their series of crystal. They are truly a delight to behold. undergournd tubers which are actually The plants have underground stolons corms connected by slender rhizomes.” A bearing fleshy tuberoids (Medley 2002). new corm is produced each year. Each The tuberoids rarely ever penetrate into new mature corm produces a solitary the soil, but rather appear to be confined to ovoid, overwintering leaf which the layer of decaying organic matter. Any disappears in May or June. The attempts to cultivate this plant should take inflorescence is produced in August. The this into account. scape is slender and is terminated by a Oklahoma Native Plant Society raceme of small, dull flowers. The sepals (ONPS) and Southwestern Region Orchid and petals are free but one petal partially Growers Association (SWROGA) overlaps the dorsal sepal. The lip is three- Conservation Committees would lobed and has a spur at the base. Homoya appreciate knowing of additional locations (1993) describes the inflorescence as for this orchid. It is probably more “giving an impression of a swarm of flying common than previously believed. gnats, mosquitoes, or small crane-flies.” However, proof is in the finding! To find a large colony of these plants in full bloom in a dimly lit woods The Crane-fly Orchid, Tipularia and to watch the flowers dance with every discolor (Prush) Nutt., is one of the more little bit of breeze is a treat. Then they interesting and elusive native orchids. Its truly seem like insects in flight. Homoya name is derived from the Latin tippula (1993) notes that, “The flowers of “water-spider” + discolor “variegated, of Tipularia are unique among North different colors.” It is one of the late American orchids in that they are not summer orchids found in Arkansas, bilaterally symmetrical. Instead, the sepals southeastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas, and petals are positioned so that the flower and Louisiana. The contains three is lopsided, with an unlike number of recognized species: Tipularia josephi in petals and sepals to either side of the the Himalayan Mountains, T. japonica in column. Moreover, the flowers are angled Japan and T. discolor in the . to one side of the main stem, some to the It ranges from Florida west to eastern right, others to the left.” Homoya (1993) Texas through Oklahoma, Arkansas, further notes that Tipularia commonly sets Missouri, southern Illinois, and Indiana seed capsules. Occasionally, isolated east to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and solitary plants may not be pollinated, but Massahusetts, as well as along the Atlantic wherever there is a population, each plant Coast. It may be the most common orchid normally will have between 80 to 100% in Arkansas (Slaughter 1993). In capsule set. Oklahoma it was first collected in 1968 Tipuolaria like (Adam- two miles south of Honobia by Steve and-Eve, Putty Root) has a series of corms Stephens from the University of Kansas. connected by a slender rhizome. Both The collection consisted of one flowering produce an over-wintering single leaf, plant (Magrath 1973). Since then it has although Aplectrum is usually 2-5 times

Magrath, L.K. 70 Oklahoma Native Plant Record Volume 3, Number 1, December 2003 larger and accordion pleated, both are typically purplish on the underside of the leaf. Aplectrum is, however, a late spring References to early summer , while Correll, D.S. 1950. Native Orchids of Tipulari is a late summer flowering plant. North American North of Mexico. In Oklahoma its late flowering time Waltham, MA: Chronica Botanica overlaps with golden plume, Platanthera Company. ciliaris, and three-bird orchid, Triphora trianthophora. Tipularia tends to grow in Homoya, M.A. 1993. Orchids of Indiana. decaying leaf litter in relatively well Indiana University Press: Indiana drained areas often over a rocky substrate, Academy of Science. and seems to prefer drier locations than Luer, C.A. 1975. The Native Orchids of does Aplectrum. Homoya (1993) notes that the United States and Canada excluding Tipularia “is clearly advancing its range” Florida. Bronx, NY: New York Botannical in Indiana. I feel that the same is true in Garden. Oklahoma. The orchid can be cultivated in Magrath, L.K. 1973. The native orchids of shaded areas where decaying leaf litter the prairies and plains region of North that is relatively moist, but well drained. America [dissertation]. Lawrence, KS: Basically the same type of habitat in University of Kansas. which Triphora trianthophora and Malaxis unifolia (Green Adder’s Mouth) Medley, M. 2002. Triphora in Flora of would grow. I have also successfully . Vol.26: Magnoliophyta: grown it in terrarium culture. Since it Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales. Flora of produces large numbers of seed capsules, North America Editoral Committee. New it would seem to be a good candidate for York and Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. growing in flask from seed and it is to be Pridgeon, A.M. & L.E. Urbatsch. 1977. hoped that at some time in the near future Contributions to the flora of Louisiana. 2. it will be available in the form of nursery Distribution and identification of propagated plants, as opposed to collected . Castanca 42:293-304. plants. While it is hoped that this native Slaughter, Carl R. 1993. Wild Orchids of will soon begin to come into cultivation Arkansas. ISBN: 0-9638497-0-0. and that the Triphora trianthophora will Published by the author. be found in more locations, as always, we recommend that when in natural settings Yatskievych, G. 1999. Steyermark’s Flora leave only footprints, being careful not to of Missouri, Vol 1, rev. ed. Missouri Dept. damage young seedlings, and take only of Conservation in cooperation with the memories and photos. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. St. Louis, MO.

Magrath, L. K. Oklahoma Native Plant Record 71 Volume 3, Number 1, December 2003

Three Birds Orchid, Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. Photos courtesy Charles Lewallen.

Magrath, L.K. 72 Oklahoma Native Plant Record Volume 3, Number 1, December 2003

Crane-Fly Orchid, Tipularia discolor (Prush) Nutt. Photos curtesy of Charles Lewallen.

Magrath, L. K.