#prickly bog sedge

[cedar-glade]

Platanthera ciliaris

Yellow fringed orchid

Any way you go about looking at this species, full anthesis or not, it becomes clear why people drive out of there way to see them once a year. This orchid, although considered one of the bog orchids, can tolerate a number of xeric conditions as long as an aerated ericaceous soil with correct mycorrohizal groups are present.  It can be found in sedge meadows, marshes, wet sandy barrens, mixed ph barrens(like this one), moist open woods, wet meadows, prairies, and deep humus of upland Eastern Oak Hickory forests at steep hills edge or cliffs edge.  It usually requires some form of disturbance to keep its habitat in check and in most of these areas that means fire dependency to recreate open growing conditions. Currently, although tree species never get big enough in the barren that these photos were taken at, the management has done prescribed burns to mitigate woodies. In the wetter sections of sand barrens fire and sandblasting are associated with preservation of habitat. 

As you may already know, many of the issues involving the development of this species habitat is the major reason for it’s decline. Habitat connectivity is effected constantly by agricultural systems and the use of herbicides in places that may have seen colonies. Other issues involve the destruction of thicket and subthicket food sources for larval stages of large butterflies, specifically the swallowtails, that if not addressed could lead to enough population numbers for a few plant species to potentially go extinct. Although any species feeding on paw paw may be stable as well as species feeding on spicebush/sassafras maybe stable, we have seen the major decline of those species feeding on pipevines, golden alexanders, sub thicket Spirea spp., and the citrus false ashes(wafer/prickly), which is directly associated to the low numbers of those plants in natural landscapes. Both Lillium spp. and many fringed orchid species, despite local abundance in some cases, fail to get pollinated enough to see a real comeback. Although hawkmoths and hummingbirds visit these plants for the nectar at the back of their long orange nectar spur, size/shape and how the would be pollinator positions it’s self on the flower matters to the specific format necessary for pollination. 

The flowers form on a pinwheel raceme, pinwheel seen in the right most photo, blooming from the bottom to the top. The butterflies that seem to visit and properly transfer pollinia have to extend their proboscis far enough down the nectar spur to the point that they too may come in contact with the stigmatic surface and also pop the anther cap and receive the pollinia onto it’s head. Some studies, such as the study of a certain P. ciliaris population’s ecology in a southwestern Michigan bog, (Smith and Snow (1976) ), seems to suggest that the most likely candidate for this would be spice bush swallowtail. Though this and a few other similar studies may not have taken in the concepts associated with local numbers of other swallow tail species being lower due to lack of larval food. 

Other issues with this species involve new/usable habitat loss. In what could of been decent habitat if fire regimes were applied and if left undisturbed by the backhoes, trench sifters, and breaker bars once established are the ditches of grazing/ horse pastures with low amounts of invasive grasses/shrubs/ect. in the area. Connectivity of runoff ditches near the sides of road seem to serve their function in offering footholds to this species as long as the basic ericaceous soil requirements are met with the lack of herbicides fungicides and pesticides. (I will post a ditch image and a pasture/ sedge meadow as an example tomorrow. ) Aside from that issue, poaching is always an issue for these orchid species. People dig them up and sell them, most people trample an area of the single leaf, compact the soil, and even break blooming sized species( multiple leaf with spike). Damaging these species in anyway can cause them issues down the line and will set them back years. In some cases they may even revert to their protocorm stage or die( Case, F. W. 1987. Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region. ) If you are attempting a rescue from a field or ditch that you know will be destroyed, contact your DNR. It’s best to just admire them and study them from a distance though if that is not the case. It is illegal to move them across state lines during any rescue without proper permits. 

That aside, there was a time period when the eastern USA saw these and many other species as abundant. Before the agricultural development and death/displacement of many tribes there were periods when they could be used... when this species was common in wet depressions a few different tribes used this to treat many issues, from headaches and bowel issues to inflammation and snake bites and was considered an important resource for those tribes.

In those early days it was also possible to see a few look-a-likes P. Xbicolor (P. ciliaris x P. blephariglottis), which is a variegated white/orange long labellum species, and the crested orange fringed orchid, P. cristata, which has smaller labellum and nectar spur than the orange fringed orchid, P. cilliaris.

If you are interested about the location where I took these photos, I made a post yesterday explaining what HD Meadow was. 

[swamptromp]

plant #29 – prickly bog sedge

Carex often requires fiddly microscope work to make a positive I.D., but I’m just going for a general idea of what will be at my sites for now. Here we go!

Carex atlantica (syn. Carex howei) – prickly bog sedge – is found in acidic wetlands in the eastern half of North America. It grows in tufts, and its flowers and fruit form relatively small spikes whose spikelets look like they’re stacked on top of one another. Prickly bog sedge blooms in May and June. The name of this common sedge genus comes from the Greek for “cut”, “keiro”.

Photos from here and here. Loving descriptions like these...