Endangered Plants of Ontario - White Fringed Orchid

White Fringed Orchid

Plantanthera blephariglottis

Status

Rare in Ontario and Quebec; extirpated from Illinois; rare in Connecticut, Delaware and Ohio.

Range

Newfoundland west to Michigan, south to Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio; formerly an isolated population in Illinois; another variety in the coastal plain of the southeastern United States.

Habitat

Bogs

Height

10 cm to 1 m.

Bloom Period

Summer

Factors contributing to its status

White fringed orchid approaches the western limits of its range in Ontario, and has never been common here. It has always been especially rare south and west of Simcoe County and the Muskoka District; all of its populations in this part of Ontario are believed to have been extirpated.

In recent decades many plant species characteristic of northern regions have become increasingly rare in the southern parts of their ranges, possibly in part because of climatic warming.

Many native orchids have complex, poorly understood, and easily disturbed mutually dependent relationships with microscopic fungi in the soil, which probably limit their ability to establish new populations.

Bogs in which this orchid formerly grew have been disturbed in various ways, including alteration of the water table, excavation for peat, colonization by introduced species, and draining and filling.

This species, along with other native orchids, is further endangered by collecting for attempts at cultivation, which are generally unsuccessful.

Notes

White fringed orchid is pollinated mainly by night-flying moths, which are attracted by the conspicuous white flowers as well as by the scent. Pollen masses become attached to the head of an insect as it probes for nectar, then are transferred to the stigma of the next flower visited.

Habitat	Bogs
Height	10 cm to 1 m.
Bloom Period	Summer
Factors contributing to its status	White fringed orchid approaches the western limits of its range in Ontario, and has never been common here. It has always been especially rare south and west of Simcoe County and the Muskoka District; all of its populations in this part of Ontario are believed to have been extirpated. In recent decades many plant species characteristic of northern regions have become increasingly rare in the southern parts of their ranges, possibly in part because of climatic warming. Many native orchids have complex, poorly understood, and easily disturbed mutually dependent relationships with microscopic fungi in the soil, which probably limit their ability to establish new populations. Bogs in which this orchid formerly grew have been disturbed in various ways, including alteration of the water table, excavation for peat, colonization by introduced species, and draining and filling. This species, along with other native orchids, is further endangered by collecting for attempts at cultivation, which are generally unsuccessful.
Notes	White fringed orchid is pollinated mainly by night-flying moths, which are attracted by the conspicuous white flowers as well as by the scent. Pollen masses become attached to the head of an insect as it probes for nectar, then are transferred to the stigma of the next flower visited.