OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Isotria medeoloides

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)

Isotria medeoloides

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-002:

Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Isotria affinis

 

COMMON NAME:
Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_isme2_001_lvd

        

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_isme2_003_lvd

        

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

Jim Fowler    jaf_isomed2

May    Rutherford County    NC

The flower is surrounded by three 1" sepals the same color as the leaves, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Large and Small Whorled Pogonia and Indian Cucumber-root

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

Jim Fowler    jafisomed_030510

May    Rutherford County    NC

When in flower, the 5-6 light bluish-green leaves point downward, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

Jim Fowler    jafisomed_2030510

May    Rutherford County    NC

Leaf arrangement similar to Medeola virginiana, hence "medeoloides", per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

image of Isotria medeoloides, Small Whorled Pogonia, Little Five-leaves

David Campbell    mdc_isotria_medeoloides

May    Guilford County    NC

The capsule is erect, ellipsoid-cylindrical, 1.7-3cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Isotria medeoloides

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Isotria medeoloides

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-06-002:
Isotria medeoloides   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Isotria affinis

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

2140

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Acidic mesic to dry-mesic forests, in the mountains and upper Piedmont usually with Pinus strobus, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Rare

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Whorls of 5-6

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellowish-green/ Greenish-white
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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