IRISH LADY'S-TRESSES

Spiranthes romanzoffiana

(Formerly: Spiranthes gemmipara)
Orchid Family [Orchidaceae]

month8aug month8sep month8sept

status
statusZnative
 
flower
flower8white
 
inner
inner8green
 
morph
morph8zygo
 
petals
petalsZ5
 
type
typeZspiked
 
stem
stem8round
 
smell
smell8hawthorn
hawthorn
rarity
rarityZscarce
 

14th Aug 2009, Mull, Coll, Scotland. Photo: © Phil And Ann Farrer
Grows up to 30cm tall. Leaves are mainly on the stem and narrow.


14th Aug 2009, Mull, Coll, Scotland. Photo: © Phil And Ann Farrer
Flower spike usually shorter than either Autumn Lady's-Tresses or Summer Lady's-tresses and have between 15-20 flowers.


14th Aug 2009, Mull, Coll, Scotland. Photo: © Phil And Ann Farrer
Flowers creamy-white and grow amidst or above the short grass and grow in a triple-lead spiral.


14th Aug 2009, Mull, Coll, Scotland. Photo: © Phil And Ann Farrer
Flowers relatively large but strangely compact forming a tube, with a short curved parallel-sided lip with a pinkish triangular arrow-head shaped termination. Further in the lip has green veins.


Can be confused with : Autumn Lady's-Tresses but than has smaller flowers and usually a longer spike of flowers.

The flowers smell of Hawthorn blossom.

Grows in damp meadows near lakes and rivers amidst grass or on old lazy-beds. [ Lazy-beds are a largely extinct way of growing vegetables not un-like furrows or strip-farming. They are of Celtic origin and are long linear raised beds of peat about 2.5metres wide with drainage chanels between which were used to cultivate potatoes. Nowadays found mainly in Ireland, the west of Scotland until the 19th Century and in southern parts of England after the Romans had gone]. It associates with Sphagnum Mosses and Marsh Clubmoss.

Found only in the north or west of Ireland, and in the far west of Scotland. Found only once in England, in 1957 in Devon, but is surprisingly able to reappear after many decades of absence. Reappearance seems associated with trampling of earth by cattle. .


  Spiranthes romanzoffiana  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Orchidaceae  

Distribution
 family8Orchid family8Orchidaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Spiranthes
Spiranthes
(Lady's-Tresses)

IRISH LADY'S-TRESSES

Spiranthes romanzoffiana

(Formerly: Spiranthes gemmipara)
Orchid Family [Orchidaceae]