Yesterday while poking around in a remote corner of our yard my wife found some interesting foliage nearly hidden by the fallen leaves. Turns out that it is Tipularia discolor or Cranefly Orchid, and we manage to locate several small patches. These leaves emerge in the fall, remain through the winter and disappear in the spring. A 1 to 2 foot flower stalk then emerges and blooms in mid-summer. What a nice surprise to find in one's woods.
I know what you mean. I'm always finding surprises in my woods.
Congrats on a great find.
Vickie
I too have found several of these but never manage to be around when the stalks flower!
Doug
Congratulations,
I had that pleasant surprise last year but I was afraid that I lost the plants to the massive trees that came down in the woods, on the contrary, I've found several patches this fall. I do fear that some of the critters around here like to dig up the tubers however so I don't know how many may survive. Enjoy, Karen
The plants are finally in bloom and I thought I'd share some photos of them. They don't show up well against the leaf litter so I took one with a backdrop.
Super David!
