Tipularia discolor - a very common orchid!

[Orchid Whisperer]

I really gained an appreciation for how common the cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor) can be, after first noticing the blooms in the very wet summer of 2013 here in Athens, GA. The flower spikes are often a foot or two tall, and the flowers are a half inch across, but the colors are tans and browns, making the spikes hard to see. Here is a Tipularia discolor blooming in my back yard, August 2013:



Closer view of the same spike:



My macrophotography skills aren't great, so here is a link to a USDA site with better close-ups of the flowers:

Plants Profile for Tipularia discolor (crippled cranefly)

The leaves fade away in late spring and are not visible when the plant is in spike (see first photo, above). Instead, the leaves are out during the late fall, winter and early spring. The leaves have a "puckered" appearance, which some have compared to seersucker. Here is a photo taken this winter in a nearby park:



The species name, discolor, refers to the fact that the leaves are typically one color (dark green) on top, but bright purple underneath. Another photo I took this winter:



This makes it easy to spot this plant in the fall, winter, and spring. There is a less common, natural variety (T. discolor forma viridifolia) that is green on both sides of the leaf. I see this around Athens, GA as well.

Now that I know what to look for, I commonly see the leaves in virtually every upland woods in my city. If I had to guess, there must be over a million of these in my city/county alone. Reportedly, in the United States, T. discolor ranges from Florida to Texas and north to Michigan, New York and Massachusetts. Maybe not as common as dandelions, but close!

[RosieC]

Cool, great find!

[WhiteRabbit]

Awesome!

[OCRC_Dir_China]

Great.......

[jerrymay]

Surely ,someone is selecting Tipularia. If it is that common(we have it here on Roanoke Island NC)
there should be a lot of variability and adaptability

Jerry

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by jerrymay

Surely ,someone is selecting Tipularia. If it is that common(we have it here on Roanoke Island NC)
there should be a lot of variability and adaptability

Jerry

I'm not certain what is meant by "selecting". If you mean selecting certain traits for breeding and growing, then I'd have to say, no, nobody is really doing it intentionally.

This orchid is very small and so are the flowers. People often do not know that this is an orchid at all. That single leaf is usually no larger than 2" in length.

Growing this orchid can be a challenge if the grower does not know what they're doing. They have tuberoids that are made out of cells that are akin to cells that make up a plant's stem. However, these stem tubers are very delicate and can be easily overwatered during growing season or when they are starting to go dormant. Since the tuberoids are tiny, if it starts to rot out, it will rot out completely in a matter of a couple days or so.

What's even worse is that these plants naturally don't produce a whole lot of roots. There may be no more than 3 - 5 roots per tuberoid; 5 being a fairly generous estimation, it often has far less than 5 roots. Each root is thin and is no longer than 1".

If I'm not mistaken, Tipularia discolor is autogamous, meaning they are self fertile and they will automatically self fertilize themselves if the pollinator doesn't show up to move the orchid's pollinia. The seeds from the self fertilization are viable and can sprout new seedlings if the right conditions are available at the right time.

Due to the possibility of it being autogamous and it being able to cross pollinate with other individuals nearby, that's probably why they are so abundant in the wild and why they show some variability; especially if not a lot of people know that they're orchids and do not pick them by the hundreds.

[jerrymay]

Thanks for the great info. I have not found any thing to indicate the possibility using pollen form any other source. In my ignorance, I had formed an opinion that many orchids are a bit accepting of wide crosses.
Using Tipularia selections would require going through a large population with a ruler and a camera , and a notebook. There are not many populations on Roanoke Island , so I am out of luck there. Maybe someone with a few more years than I do may try looking through a large population
It just occurred to me that I am wandering from the
thread .Now what???
Sorry about not replying sooner
Jerry

---------- Post added at 02:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:36 PM ----------

I am afraid I am in over my head. I am computer illiterate, have an aversion to facebook .

jerry

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The only foreseeable hybridization possibility would be with Aplectrum hyemale. They are closely related and have similar enough behaviors that the offspring can make it without some odd genetic conflict. Even then, I don't see the point in crossing with Aplectrum hyemale. Aplectrum hyemale is attractive enough on its own.

Don't worry about being Facebook illiterate when posting on the OB, they're not really the same thing.

[jerrymay]

I will have to think about this more before I try to explain why I want to hybridize a plain common plant when there are a lot of beautiful plants to be found.
jerry
I looked up Aplectrum hyemale. It must be a prettier plant. I'll have agree it would not make sense to hybridize them. Perhaps because I was able to successfully transplant Tipularia , I thought it would be nice for it to be larger flowered. I will be satisfied with the plant as it is.
Jerry

[Tindomul]

A great find!! Thanks for sharing.