Platanthera psycodes

Platanthera psycodes is a species in the orchid family, Orchidaceae, commonly called the lesser purple fringed orchid or small purple-fringed orchid.

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Vegetative morphology The plants are 14–101 cm tall with 3–5 leaves, each 5–22 cm long and 1.5–7 cm wide. Floral morphology The flowers are arranged in a raceme at the end of the stem and vary in number from 30 to 50. Depending on the length of the inflorescence, which varies from 8–12 cm (or sometimes longer), the flowers may be densely- or loosely-arranged. Flowers vary in color from lavender to rose-purple or sometimes white. The dorsal petal, called the lip, is 5–13 mm long, 5–17 mm wide, points downward, and has three deeply-fringed lobes. The lateral petals and dorsal sepal point upward, and the two lateral sepals curve backward and point toward the stem. front view of a flower, showing the column side view of a flower, showing the slendar nectar spur back view of a flower Similar species Platanthera psycodes is often confused with its relative, P. grandiflora. The most important characteristic separating the two species is the shape and orientation of reproductive structures in the column, reflecting different pollination strategies. In P. psycodes, the pollinia are held close together are nearly parallel, and are obscured from the sides by wing-like structures; in P. psycodes, the column is larger, the viscidia of the pollinia are widely spaced and outwardly rotated, and the pollinia are visible from a side view. Moreover, the opening to the nectary is oblong and sometimes partially divided in P. psycodes but circular and undivided in P. grandiflora. The result is that the pollinia are deposited near the base of a pollinator's proboscis by P. psycodes and on a pollinator's eyes by P. grandiflora. P. grandiflora generally has larger flowers (lip or labellum 10 to 25 millimetres (1⁄3 to 1 in) long) compared to P. psycodes which has smaller flowers (the labellum measuring from 5 to 13 millimetres (1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in) long). P. grandiflora has a much more restricted range and where the two species do overlap in range, they are phenotypically separated, with P. grandiflora typically blooming from late June through early July while P. psycodes blooms from late July through early August.