Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

You may enjoy reading Orchids of the Francis Marion National Forest by Jim Fowler.

This taxon, the taller and larger-flowered of the two White Fringed Orchids, has a conical and somewhat open inflorescence of several dozen large white flowers; the flower cluster is typically 4-6 inches tall.... The very similar P. blephariglottis,, with which it was recently split, has a shorter and denser inflorescence, a flower lip that has denser fringes, and flower spurs often less than 1 inch long. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

Although typical plants of var. blephariglottis and var. conspicua are quite distinctive, most characters vary considerably within and between the varieties and can be misleading. In contrast, spur length seems to be unambiguous, and insofar as it reflects specialization for different pollinators, upon further study it may be shown to delimit distinct species. Additionally, in the limited area in which the two varieties occur together, var. conspicua may bloom somewhat later than var. blephariglottis, per Flora of North America.

Read more and see some beautiful photographs on Jim Fowler's blog: "Weekend orchid hunting along the Carolina coastal plain" (August 2016) and "Francis Marion National Forest and the Carolina Coastal Plains Fringed Orchids" (August 2018).

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua   FAMILY Orchidaceae

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

Platanthera conspicua

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

Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-013a?:

Habenaria blephariglottis var. blephariglottis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Habenaria blephariglottis var. conspicua

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

Blephariglottis conspicua

COMMON NAME:
Large White Fringed Orchid, Southern White Fringed Orchid

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

Jim Fowler    jafpconspicua_1

August    Brunswick County    NC

Green Swamp

Lip has a filiform fringe & a distinct isthmus. Spur often to 3" long, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History (Fowler, 2005).

Jim Fowler    jafpla_000a

August-September?    Berkeley County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

In the foreground is a hybrid of P. conspicua & P. ciliaris called P. ×lueri.

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua   FAMILY Orchidaceae

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-03-013a?:
Habenaria blephariglottis var. blephariglottis   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Habenaria blephariglottis var. conspicua

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