Tipularia discolor grows a single leaf in September that disappears in the spring. The leaf top is green, often with dark purple spots. The leaf underside is a striking purple color. The flower blooms in mid-July to late August. The roots are a connected series of edible corms. They are starchy and almost potato-like.
The plant is pollinated by noctuid moths, by means of flowers which incline slightly to the right or left, so the pollinaria can attach to one of the moth's compound eyes.[8] The details of the inflorescence can be seen in a video recorded in State Botanical Gardens in Athens, GA
.[9]
Crane-fly orchids are endangered, threatened, or rare in several states.[3]
Clonal group
Colony, with seed pods, Florida, February.
Purple underside of leaf
Flowers
Seed pods
Broken seed pod with micrograph of seed insert.
References
^ abJustice, William S.; Bell, C. Ritchie; Lindsey, Anne H. (2005). Wild Flowers of North Carolina (2. printing. ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press. p. 156. ISBN0807855979.
^ abUSDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Tipularia discolor". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
^Lamont, Eric E., and Richard Stalter. “Orchids of Atlantic Coast Barrier Islands from North Carolina to New York.” The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, vol. 134, no. 4, 2007, pp. 540–51. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20063950. Accessed 16 Mar. 2024.
^Homoya, Michael A. (1993). Orchids of Indiana. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-32864-0.