Showy orchis

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Showy orchis

Showy orchis

Showy orchis

Showy orchis inflorescence

Showy orchis leaves

Showy orchis flowers

Showy orchis

Morphology

Stem

Flowering stem erect, glabrous.

Leaves

Basal, 1-3 (usually 2), nearly opposite, broadly elliptic to oblanceolate or narrowly egg-shaped, 3.5 to 8 inches long, .8 to 4 inches wide, dark green, somewhat succulent, glabrous; tip rounded or pointed; base gradually narrowed to sheathing stalk.

Inflorescence

Raceme, loosely 2-15-flowered, around 3.5 inch long, terminal; flowers subtended by leaf-like, lanceolate or elliptic bracts, .6 to 3 inches long, .2 to 1+ inch wide; lower bracts much exceeding flowers; upper bracts equal to or shorter than flowers.

Flower

Showy, erect; sepals 3, elliptic to lanceolate, 2/5 to 3/4 inch long, 1/5 to 1/4 inch wide, pink, lavender or purplish (rarely white); lateral sepals curve up and overlap upper sepal to form a hood; petals 3, linear, 1/2 to 3/5 inch long, 1/12 to 1/6 inch wide; lower petal (lip) larger, rhombic to lance-ovate, 2/5 to 3/4 inch long, 1/4 to 3/5 inch wide, white, protruding downward; margin wavy; lateral petals pink, lavender, or purplish, arching over sepals; forming hood over column (structure formed from stamen and stigma).

Fruit

Capsule, erect, ellipsoid, 1/2 to 1 inch long, 1/5 to 1/6 inch wide, somewhat triangular in cross section, strongly ribbed; seeds numerous, tiny.

Ecology

Habitat

Moist, calcareous woods in rich soil.

Distribution

North half of east fifth of Kansas.

Additional Notes