Neottia bifolia/(Listera australis) and Corallorhiza wisteriana in the Francis Marion National Forest – early spring orchids — 2013-02-25

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According to Kew, here, our old friend Listera australis is now known as Neottia bifolia. Go figure… But I guess since bifolia <=> twablade, it isn’t too annoying. Thanks go to my botanist friend, Sonnia Hill, for pointing this out to me.

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Spring has come early this year. It is time to set out to photograph Neottia (Listera) australis, Southern Twayblade orchid and Corallorhiza wisteriana, Spring Coralroot orchid. I added “Listera” to the genus of the first species, since most, if not all of the species previously found in that genus have been moved to the genus, Neottia. Just thought you’d want to know…

Last year, I missed seeing these two orchid species bloom, since I was a couple of weeks too late. So, I got up bright and early on Sunday, and headed off to one of my favorite haunts in South Carolina — The Francis Marion National Forest. This is a huge area (about 250,000 acres) along the coastal plain of South Carolina. It hosts several dozen species of orchids in season, as well as many carnivorous plants and other rare wildflowers. The Francis Marion is one of the largest last remnants of the fabled longleaf pine forests in the Southeast.

The previous few days had brought much rain to the state. When I arrived at the site, there was water standing everywhere. The typical preference for these two orchid species is a generally wet area with lots of Sphagnum or loose, soggy humus. I tried to stay dry (at least keep my feet dry), but it was a lost cause. I soon was squishing about in water over the top of my boots. Not a pleasant feeling — fortunately, I had another pair of socks in the truck.

In order to photograph these diminutive orchids, I frequently found myself sprawled out, sometimes prone, in this wet muck! What I won’t do to get a good photograph… thinking ahead, I also had a fresh change of clothes in the truck as well as a couple of towels.

Neottia (Listera) australis is quite small (generally about 4 inches or 10 cm tall), but can be as much as 10 inches or 25 cm tall at it’s extreme. The ones I saw on this field trip were on the small size, with one even being only about 2 inches or 5 cm tall:

Notice the two leaves toward the base of the plant. Two leaves = “Twayblade”…

The first of these plants that I saw was one with beautiful pink flowers:

The typical flower colors for this species at this site are brownish-red, maroon, pink, tan, and yellowish-green.

Since the lighting was pretty abysmal (either bright sunlit flowers or flowers in deep shade), I had to resort to placing a black background in the some of the shots so that the flowers, which blend in so well with the leaf litter on the forest floor, would stand out in the photograph. I generally do not like to use this type of background, but sometimes one does what one has to do.

Soon, I found one plant with decidedly yellowish-green flowers. These are not common in this area, but they can occasionally be seen:

Next, I came upon a plant with loosely spaced, narrow, brownish-red flowers; the petals of which were almost 1 inch or 2.5 cm in length:

Shortly after photographing these Southern twayblade ochids, I wandered to the spot where my friend, Neil Jacobs, had found the tiny Spring Coralroot orchids growing two years ago:

These don’t really appear very impressive from a distance (and they are really quite hard to spot against the forest floor), but up close, they are rather spectacular, with their white, purple-spotted lips:

Here are a couple of other shots of these plants which were about 6-8 inches or 15-20 cm tall:

Two years ago, Neil found several dozen plants that were tightly packed in a group. I couldn’t locate that group on this field trip. I hope it is only dormant this year, and will come back again next year. Sometimes orchids do not appear in the same location each year. Since the Spring Coralroot orchid does not have chlorophyl and depends on a subterranean fungus to supply its nutrition over its life span, it sometimes remains dormant underground, waiting until it can replentish its reserves in order to be able to expend the energy to send up flowers in the spring.

Considering that I was able to find fewer plants of both species this year (about two dozen of each species), I still had a really enjoyable field trip. This site is usually the first one I visit each year (a 4-hour drive each way), and it was a nice feeling to be able to see these “harbingers of spring” — at least the harbingers of the spring orchid season in the Southeast…

— Jim