Pale and Frilly

You have to love mid-July
WV temperatures in the 50's

I had an opportunity to spend a cool morning at
The Cranberry Glades Botanical Area  this week and 
had a blast. Many wildflowers were in bloom including orchids. 
My favorite of the day had to be Shriver‟s Frilly Orchid or
Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri). This Orchid has been know since the early 1990's but just has recently been accepted as a new orchid.
Read that story here.



That article points out the traits of this orchid and the differences between it and Purple Fringed Orchid. The key traits are deeply fringed petals,  lateral petals that exceed the dorsal sepal giving it a rabbit ear appearance and a notably later bloom time in the same area as Purple Fringed Orchid.

Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri) 

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Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri) 

Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri)

Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri)

Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri)

Purple Fringed Orchids were fading and rarer this year, but here is one nice one along a roadside. 

Purple Fringed Orchid

Purple Fringed Orchid

Comparison between flowers; notice deepness of fringe on Pale Frilly and the hooded, lateral petals and the dorsal sepal of the Purple Fringed Orchid vs. the Rabbit ear appearance of the Pale Frilly.

Pale Frilly Orchid ( Platanthera shriveri)

Purple Fringed Orchid

I did find other Orchids and Flowers

Rose Pogonia 

Rose Pogonia

Grass Pink 

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Grass Pink

 Plus three new flowers for my attempt to find and photograph as many West Virginia wildflowers as possible

#345- Oswego Tea (Monarda didyma)

#346- Cotton Grass (Eriophorum virginicum)

# 347- Allegheny Brookfoam. Boykinia aconitifolia 

Sundew- A carnivorous plant