Isotria medeoloides
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I. medeoloides
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| Binomial name | |
| Isotria medeoloides |
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Isotria medeoloides (small whorled pogonia or little five leaves) is a terrestrial orchid found in temperate Eastern North America. Its range is from southern Maine south to Georgia and west to southern Ontario, Michigan, and Tennessee. A population was found in Missouri in 1897,[1] but the plant is no longer believed extant there.[2] It has always been considered a rare species, often legendarily so. It has been called "the rarest orchid east of the Mississippi.[3]
This is a rhizomatous herb producing a waxy gray-green stem up to about 25 centimeters tall. The gray-green leaves are up to 8.5 centimeters long by 4 wide and are borne in a characteristic whorl. The flower has green and green-streaked yellowish petals measuring between 1 and 2 centimeters long.[4]
The plant's habitat includes hardwood or conifer-hardwood forests, where it is found in leaf litter along small "braided" intermittent streams.
The plant is listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, having been downlisted from endangered status in 1994 as more populations were discovered and several were given protection.[2] It is listed as an endangered species by most states or provinces within its range.[5] There are about 104 populations known to exist, but most of these are small, containing fewer than 25 plants.[3]
This orchid is sometimes confused with the common Indian cucumber (Medeola virginiana), which has similar whorled leaves and grows in similar habitat types. The species name medeoloides is a reference to this similarity.[3]
Anecdotal tales of the species only appearing at decades-long intervals do not appear to be supported by field studies. The plant can usually remain dormant for up to three years.[3]
The main threat to the species' existence is the destruction of its habitat.[3] Other threats include wild pigs, off-road vehicles, predation by deer and slugs, vandalism, and collection.[6]
Notes
- ↑ Small whorled pogonia. Missouri Conservationist.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 USFWS. Isotria medeoloides Five-year Review. October 2008.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Isotria medeoloides. Center for Plant Conservation.
- ↑ I. medeoloides. Flora of North America.
- ↑ USDA Plants Profile
- ↑ USFS. I. medeoloides. Celebrating Wildflowers.
References
- Gleason, H.A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
- Radis, R.P. 1983. Endangered, Threatened, Vulnerable, and Rare Vascular Plant Species of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
