NameThatPlant.net: Spiranthes eatonii

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Spiranthes eatonii FAMILY Orchidaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Learn more about Spiranthes from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

Apparently previously confused with S. lacera, S. floridana, S. brevilabris, and S. tuberosa, but distinctive in the combination of spring blooming season, white flowers, and basal, narrowly oblanceolate leaves (Brown 1999), per Weakley's Flora (2022)

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Spiranthes eatonii FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Spiranthes lacera var. eatonii

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Spiranthes eatonii

COMMON NAME:
Eaton's Ladies'-tresses

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Spiranthes eatonii, Eaton's Ladies'-tresses

Jim Fowler jafseatonii_group

April Levy County FL

Jim Fowler jafspi_eat

April Levy County FL

The tiny flowers are only 1/6" long, bright white with a green spot on lip, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Spiranthes eatonii FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Spiranthes eatonii FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Spiranthes lacera var. eatonii

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Spiranthes eatonii

2149

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: pine savannas, dry to moist pine flatwoods, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Uncommon in Carolinas, rare in GA

map
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly basal

FLOWER:
Spring
White (with green spot)
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary

FRUIT:
Spring
Capsule

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!