Southern Twayblade
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

Southern Twayblade
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
Register Southern Twayblade Members Southern Twayblade Southern Twayblade Today's PostsSouthern Twayblade Southern Twayblade Southern Twayblade
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Go Back   Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web ! > >
 
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old 01-29-2009, 09:48 PM
prem prem is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 349
Southern Twayblade
Default Southern Twayblade

The advent of the Southern Twayblade Orchid (Listera australis) is definitely a sign of early spring, although here in central FL, aside from a brief cold snap that took us below freezing for a few hours each night over 3 nights, the weather has been very much like early spring since November. Twayblades emerge in early January in central Florida and early-mid February in north Florida, emerging even later as you travel northward through their range which extends all the way into the southern parts of Canada...truly a widespread plant. I did encounter a plant in the Tallahassee area that was in full bloom in mid June...apparently a very confused plant.

This is one of Florida's smallest orchids...the typical plant stands about 4 inches high (10 cm) with two oppositely-spreading leaves. The leaves are typically one inch (2.5cm) long by 1/2 inch (1.25cm) wide. Flower counts of around 9 flowers are typical. I have seen more robust plants with as many as 30 flowers standing about 7 inches tall (17.75cm), but these are the rare old patriarchs of the bog. The individual flowers are about 1cm long and 2-3mm wide. They are a marvel in miniaturization, in which many of the floral parts are composed of literally just a few hundred cells.

These plants inhabit moist woodlands (and more open bogs along partially shaded margins), often growing amidst sphagnum moss or in the areas just slightly drier than where the sphagnum grows. They come up rather quickly, set seed and senesce all within the period of a month to a month-and-a-half.

This plant was photographed in an area a bit to the west of Ocala, Florida just about a week ago. I purposely left the background behind it alone, as I didn't want to risk uprooting any of the small seedlings growing nearby. I also wanted to give a sense of scale and habitat where this diminutive species grows.

Canon EOS 400D, Sigma 105mm macro, 580 EX II flash shot through a diffuser, f22, 1/150s.



---Prem
Reply With Quote
 

Bookmarks

Tags
florida, native, southern, species, twayblade


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Southern Ontario Orchid Society fultonh Orchid Show Announcements 0 01-11-2009 11:15 PM
Southern California Water, Tap Vs. R/O lenny Introductions - Break the Ice ! 6 11-17-2008 01:59 PM
southern Arizona greenhouse EdinAZ Greenhouse Gardening 7 06-03-2008 12:36 AM
New from southern Arizona EdinAZ Introductions - Break the Ice ! 13 03-23-2008 05:32 PM
Southern Ontario Orchid Society: 27th Annual Orchid Show HW Orchid Show Announcements 1 12-31-2005 04:04 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:57 AM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2025 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.