Spiranthes cernua (L.) Rich.

Nodding Ladies' Tresses

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Nodding Ladies' Tresses is a native perennial wildflower in the Orchid family (Orchidaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Nodding Ladies' Tresses occurs in bogs, on pond and stream banks, in wet ditches, and in low meadows and lawns. Nodding Ladies' Tresses produces a basal rosette of three to eight strap shaped leaves. These wither before the flowering stems are produced in late summer or autumn. The flowering stems grow from three to twelve inches in height. The flowering stalk is pubescent with short hairs and stalked glands. The small white flowers are produced in spirals on the flowering stalk. The flowers nod downwards. At the base of each flower is a large green bract. Nodding Ladies' Tresses is a polyploid—having more than the normal two pairs of each chromosomes (diploid). Gene flow from the diploid species Spiranthes magnicamporum, Spiranthes ochroleuca, and Spiranthes odorata have created a wide range of forms that reproduce through asexual means in which the embryo develops from an unfertilized egg. Nodding Ladies' Tresses is also colonial from plantlets that develop from the roots. It almost always occurs in large clones. Nodding Ladies' Tresses is sometimes available as plants from orchid or wildflower nurseries. It is one of the easier native orchid species to cultivate. It grows best in full or partial sun in wet sandy or organic soil. It can also be grown in bog gardens with carnivorous plants, and in pots or terrariums.--A. Diamond

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Native

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