palegreen orchid, Platanthera flava

Palegreen may be called tubercled or rein orchid, with one or another adjective attached, as in northern tubercled orchid or southern rein orchid. Tubercled is the interesting one. If you look very closely you may see a little bump -tubercle- on the lower lip of the flower, inside the mouth. Inside the flower are two pollen bearing structures, one on each side. The tubercle is sort of a traffic lane divider for pollinators. In yesterday's blog I mentioned that grass pinks were non-resupinate. This is a more normal resupinate orchid. The flower pedicels twist as the flowers develop, in effect turning the bloom upside down. If you again look closely at the lines on the pedicels, following them from the plant stem to where the sepals and petals attach, you can see the twist. Palegreen orchids grow in damp areas of non-neutral pH in AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV, NB, NS, ON, PE, ans QC. Loe Campbell Preserve, Lucas Co OH, 6/28/22. Orchid family, Orchidaceae.