Vegetation & Wildflowers
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Small purple fringed orchid
Platanthera psycodes, known commonly as the small or lesser purple fringed orchid, taken along the bank of the Brule River in Judge C.R. Magney State Park along Minnesota's north shore of Lake Superior. This flower is found throughout much of eastern North America in a variety of moist, open habitats. Typical habitats include stream and river banks, roadside ditches, and moist meadows. The specific epithet psycodes is an incorrect spelling (by Linneaus) of the Greek psychodes, meaning "butterfly-like," apparently a reference to the appearance of the flowers. Inflorescence is a loose or dense raceme of 20-125 lilac-purple to reddish-purple or rarely white fan-shaped flowers clustered at the top of the stalk. Plants bloom in July-August. Each flower has a lip divided into 3 fan-shaped parts with fringed edges and a long spur. Leaves are oblong, alternate on the stalk, and become smaller near the flower cluster.
forbsJudge Magney SPMinnesotaPlatanthera psycodessmall purple fringed orchidVegetationWildflowers
