OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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

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



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Galearis spectabilis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

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

Galearis spectabilis

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)

Galearis spectabilis

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-02-001:

Orchis spectabilis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Galeorchis spectabilis

 

COMMON NAME:
Showy Orchis


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

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_gasp11_001_lvd

        

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Harry Davis    hld989_crw_0540

April        

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Helmet magenta-purple, lavender or white; lip usually but not always white, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm120403_437

April    Henderson County    NC

Holmes Educational Forest

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm150423_455

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Rarely almost white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm150425_845

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Stalk w 2-10 fragrant bicolored flowers rises from 2 broad glossy leaves, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm190412_7247

April    Rabun County    GA

This is a low plant with 2 lustrous, wide, elliptic leaves at the base, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm230428_2859

April    Greenville County    SC

Mountain Bridge Wilderness

In orchids, the pistil and stamens are fused together in a structure called the column, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Keith Bradley    kab_g_spectabilis_02935

April    Polk County    NC

Pearson's Falls

The lip is white, nearly flat, points downward, and is spurred, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Keith Bradley    kab_g_spectabilis_1641

April    Haywood County    NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The lip is usually white, sometimes tinted with shades of pink, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmgspectabilis_chauga2

April    Oconee County    SC

Chau-Ram County Park

A tubular spur is connected to the lip, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmgspectabilis_tuck1

April        

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm060508_149

May    Macon County    NC

Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District

The dorsal sepal and petals converge to make up the "helmet", per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm080504_148

May    Swain County    NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Basal leaves to 4" long and rounded at the apex, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm080504_149

May    Swain County    NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Fruits are ellipsoid capsules 0.7-1.0" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

JK Marlow    jkm080504_152

May    Swain County    NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_g_spectabilis_4

May        

 

 

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Galearis spectabilis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Galearis spectabilis

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-02-001:
Orchis spectabilis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Galeorchis spectabilis

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

989

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Rich, deciduous forests, most typically over calcareous or mafic rocks, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Mountains of GA & NC, uncommon SC Mountains, rare elsewhere in Carolinas

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

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pink/Mauve
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
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule

 

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



 


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