PURPLE
July-August

LARGE PURPLE FRINGED ORCHID
Plantanthera grandiflora
Orchid Family
Flower: 1" long
Plant: 2-4' high

    Borne in a spike, 2-2.5” in diameter, at the top of a leafy stem, are many rose-purple flowers, each with a 3-lobed, deeply fringed lip petal, 2 lateral petals and a backward-pointing spur.  The lower leaves sheath the stem and are up to 8” long, oval at the base and pointed at the tip.  The upper leaves are smaller and linear.

    A large beautiful Orchid, it can be found blooming in mid-summer in damp fields and woods.  Although once common in our area, it has now become rather scarce and should be protected.  A similar species, the Small Fringed Orchid (P. psycodes) is 1-2’ high with smaller flowers on a narrower spike.