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Platanthera blephariglottis (Willd.) Lindl.
Small White Fringed Orchid
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S1
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
2025 SGCN Priority Tier:
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 5
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Bogs, seeps, wet savannas
Perennial herb with an erect, hairless stem, 3 - 32 inches (8 - 80 cm) tall. Leaves 2 - 14 inches (5 - 35 cm long) long and 0.4 - 2 inches (1 - 5 cm) wide, alternate and sheathing the stem, lance-shaped, widely spaced, and gradually becoming smaller toward the top of the stem. The flower cluster is held at the top of the stem, with 20 - 45 bright white flowers (sometimes yellowish in bud) opening first from the bottom of the cluster then upward, therefore conical in outline. The lip petal is 0.25 - 0.5 inch (6 - 13 mm) long, oblong, downwardly curved, with deeply and coarsely fringed margins. The slender nectar-producing spur, a backward extension of the lip petal, is 0.5 - 1 inch (15 - 25 mm) long, about the same length as the ovary. The lateral sepals are oval, held backward or drooping along the side of the flower. One upright sepal overlaps with two narrow, upright petals to form a hood over the center of the flower. Fruits are capsules 0.4 - 1 inch (10 - 28 mm) long, about the same length as the spur, with many tiny seeds.
Three rare species of Platanthera resemble Small White Fringed Orchid:
Snowy Orchid (Platanthera nivea, synonym: Gymnadeniopsis nivea) occurs in wet savannas and pitcherplant bogs. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.a2hosted.com/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=17443
Monkeyface Orchid (Platanthera integrilabia) occurs in seepy sphagnum bogs, springheads, seepy stream banks, and Red Maple-Black Gum swamps in north Georgia. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.a2hosted.com/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=19469
Large White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera conspicua) occurs in pitcherplant bogs, wet savannas in Georgia's Coastal Plain, and in seeps and openings in Atlantic White Cedar swamps in the Fall Line region, and on wet roadsides through these habitats. Large White Fringed Orchid closely resembles Small White Fringed Orchid and was considered until recently to be the same species, Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua. It is a larger plant, 10-40 inches (25-100+ cm) tall with 30-65 flowers in its flower clusters. The lip petal is forward-pointing with delicate fringing, and the nectar spurs are 1-2 inches (3-5 cm) long, about twice as long as the ovary. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.a2hosted.com/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18565
There are 10 rare species of Platanthera in Georgia. For information on each of these, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/element_lists?group=plant
Seepage slopes, pitcher plant bogs, and sunny edges of shrub bogs.
Small White Fringed Orchid is a perennial herb that reproduces sexually. Its flowers are pollinated by long-tongued insects such as moths, bumblebees, and butterflies, with individual flowers remaining open for more than a week. When an insect lands on the flower’s lip, it inserts its tongue deep into the long spur to collect nectar; as it does so, a sticky mass of pollen (called a pollinarium) attaches to its eye. One to many pollinaria may adhere to the insect’s eyes for up to several days. Pollination occurs when a pollinarium is transferred to a flower on another plant – flowers must be cross-pollinated for fruit to set. Each fruit contains thousands of dust-like seeds that are wind-dispersed and contain no stored food reserves (endosperm). Seeds must land on a patch of soil containing specific fungi that provide nutrients for germination and subsequent plant growth.
The plants are most conspicuous when in flower, July–September. Flowers are needed to distinguish this species from Platanthera conspicua.
Georgia north to Newfoundland and west across New England to Michigan, with a disjunct population in Illinois. In southeastern states, Small White Fringed Orchid occurs largely in the Coastal Plain. In Georgia, Small White Fringed Orchid is found only in western Fall Line counties.
Small White Fringed Orchid is threatened by ditching, draining, filling, soil compaction, impoundment, and other disturbances to the hydrology of its seepage slope habitat; fire suppression which fosters encroachment and competition by woody plants; logging and conversion of habitat to pine plantations; and, invasion by exotic pest plants. Orchids are targeted by orchid collectors and other poachers. Climate change is likely to bring changes to Small White Fringed Orchid habitat and to its fungal symbionts which could prove fatal.
Small White Fringed Orchid is ranked S1 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is critically imperiled in Georgia. Five populations have been documented in Georgia and four of these are extant. Two of the extant populations occur on state-owned wildlife management areas, one population occurs in a Georgia Power right-of-way on a privately owned hunting preserve, and the fourth on other private land. All of the populations that have been recently observed have few individuals and low reproduction.
Georgia’s plants are the southernmost populations of this species. Plants occurring at the periphery of a species’ range are thought to be of special conservation importance. Peripheral populations are usually smaller and less genetically diverse within the population, but genetically divergent from centrally located populations. These genetic differences may confer special survival traits that plants in other portions of the species’ range lack, such as the ability to survive changes in the climate or the arrival of a new pathogen. Peripheral populations may be in the process of evolving into a new species. They are especially deserving of conservation action.
Protect the natural hydrology at known sites. Apply prescribed fire in seepage slopes, bogs, and surrounding uplands. Georgia’s populations of Small White Fringed Orchid are the southernmost for this species, and they likely possess unusual genetic traits that should be protected in ex situ collections. Conservation and management agreements should be negotiated with private landowners and with the Georgia Power Company. Exact location information of rare orchid populations should not be disclosed to the general public to prevent poaching.
Argue, C.L. 2012. The pollination biology of North American orchids: volume 1, North of Florida and Mexico, Part II: subfamily Orchidoideae (part one), Chapter 8, Platanthera. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-0592-4.pdf
Brown, P.M. and S.N. Folsom. 2004. Wild orchids of the southeastern United States, north of peninsular Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Cole, F.R. and D.H. Firmage. 1984. The floral ecology of Platanthera blephariglottis. American Journal of Botany 71(5): 700-710. https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1984.tb14177.x
Drake, J. 2013. Fringed orchids of the southeastern United States: a guide to the genus Platanthera. Breath o’ Spring, Inc. P.O. Box 2957, Suwanee, Georgia 30024.
Esposito, F., H. Jacquemyn, M. Waud, and D. Tyteca. 2016. Mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in two closely related Platanthera (Orchidaceae) species. PLoS One 11(10): e0164108. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5047478/
GADNR. 2019. Element occurrence records for Platanthera blephariglottis. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
NatureServe. 2019. NatureServe Explorer: an online encyclopedia of life, Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Accessed 8 June 2019. http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Platanthera+blephariglottis
Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. 2011. White Fringed Orchid–Platanthera blephariglottis fact sheet. Accessed 10 June 2019. http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/factsheets/15445.pdf
Sheviak, C.J. 2002. Species account for Platanthera blephariglottis. Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 26. Accessed 8 June 2019. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101826
Smith, G.R. and G.E. Snow. 1976. Pollination ecology of Platanthera (Habenaria) ciliaris and P. blephariglottis (Orchidaceae). Botanical Gazette 137(2): 133-140. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/336852
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
Linda G. Chafin, 10 June 2019: original account
