8. Platanthera psycodes (L.) Lindl. (small purple fringed orchid)

Pl. 116 h, i; Map 479

Habenaria psycodes (L.) Spreng.

Flowering stems 30–90 cm long, the flowers 25–40 in a dense to loose raceme. Main stem leaves 2–5. Sepals 4–6 mm long, pinkish purple to purple. Lateral petals 4–7 mm long, obovate, the tips broadly rounded, finely toothed, pinkish purple to purple. Lip 6–12 mm long, 3‑lobed, the lobes broadly fan‑shaped, deeply toothed to fringed, at least some of the divisions more than a 1/3 the length of the lobe, pinkish purple to purple. Spur 13–17 mm long. Column 3.0–3.5 mm long, greenish white, the viscidia 1–1.5 mm apart, positioned so as to face more or less forward (parallel to each other). 2n=42. July–August.

Known from a single, presumed, historical specimen from Ozark County (eastern U.S. west to Arkansas). Mesic bottomland forest along a spring branch.

Steyermark (1963) included Platanthera psycodes in the Missouri flora based upon a plant observed in the garden of the well‑known native plant enthusiast, Bill Bauer, in St. Louis County. The origin of this plant was said to be along Caney Creek in what is now the Caney Mountain Conservation Area (owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation), but plants were never documented in the wild. A trip to the site by Steyermark and Bauer in 1949 was unsuccessful in locating a population, perhaps because a fallen tree had destroyed the herbaceous plants in the vicinity. Subsequent searches by botanists also have been in vain. The Missouri station is disjunct from the nearest populations in northern Illinois and Iowa, thus there is some doubt whether the species actually occurs in the state. It remains for future fieldwork in southern Missouri to document the presence of the small purple fringed orchid in Missouri. Elsewhere, the attractive flowers are pollinated by various moths, skippers, and butterflies.