Platanthera cristata

Platanthera cristata
Photo taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Order:	Orchidales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Genus:	Platanthera
Species:	P. cristata
Binomial name
Platanthera cristata (Michx.) Lindl.
Natural range of Platanthera cristata from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: crested yellow orchid

Description

A description of Platanthera cristata is provided in The Flora of North America.

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, P. cristata grows in annually burned longleaf pineland, poorly drained areas, terminus of river swamps, wet flatwoods, low wet open savannas, open wiregrass-longleaf pine woodlands, hillside bogs, shaded swamps, the base of cypress tress in a cypress-dome, along streams, boggy ditches, and mesic woodlands (FSU Herbarium). It is also found in moist roadside depressions, open undrained fields, and pipeline clearings. Associated species include Pinus palustris, Quercus, titi, sweetgum, alder, maple, Cuphea aspera, Verbesina chapmanii, Rhynchospora oligantha, Scleria, Fuirena, Balduina, Myrica, Ilex, Sarracenia, Juncus polycephalus, Pinguicula ionantha, Aristida stricta, Sphagnum, Nyssa, Lyonia, Magnolia, Xyris, Rhexia, Clethra, Hypericum, Platanthera blephariglottis and Cypress (FSU Herbarium).

It grows in open to deeply shaded areas (FSU Herbarium). Soil types include moist sandy loam, peaty mucky soil, and loamy sand (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Flowering occurs May through September (FSU Herbarium).

References and notes

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: Collectors: States and Counties: Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.