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For many years I leafed through my Peterson and Audubon Field Guides, dreaming of the day I might find such gems as these. Did they really exist? Would I ever be so blessed? They are surprisingly easy to find for folks in the Asheville area - I suggest looking along the Parkway between Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell, north of Asheville, or Soco Gap and the Balsam Mountain range, south of Asheville. Sometimes all it takes is to look closely - by midsummer, a great deal of greenery has grown up and might obscure what otherwise stands out like a lighthouse beacon.

There are two species in our area - the "small" (Platanthera psycodes ) and the "large" (Platanthera grandiflora). Generally speaking, the only discernable difference is the size of the flowers - the "small" flowers about 1/2" wide, and the "large" flowers about 1". Thanks to an attentive (and knowledgeable) internet visitor, Charles McCartney, I can add some detail to this description to help you determine which species you've found. Following are his words:

"Look at the opening to the nectar spur at the back of the lip. It is round in your photo. That round opening is a characteristic of the Large Purple Fringed Orchid, which is now treated as a separate species, Platanthera grandiflora. The smaller Purple Fringed Orchid has a ridge in the middle of the opening to the nectar spur, dividing it into two smaller openings, giving the opening sort of a figure 8 or dumbell outline. That species retains the name Platanthera psycodes."

Many thanks to Mr. McCartney for his knowledge and advice.

You can find both not far from Asheville, blooming in late June to early July. They grow only at high elevations in our area, preferring sunny damp spots - such as roadside ditches and mountain seepage slopes that are cool, moist, but get a lot of sun. Their leaves, if you can get a look at them amongst all the grasses, are in fact grass-like - long and narrow, with a few from the base and a few along the main stem. Once spotted you can't miss these - look for a single crown of pinkish purple blooms about 1 foot off the ground. In passing you might mistake them for Phlox, which blooms at about the same time, but Phlox grows much higher. Stop for a second look and you just might have found these unusual native orchids.

(A final note - in this case, I used the species names as given to me by Mr. McCartney - apparently my usual reference to Radford, Ahles & Bell of 1968 is outdated. RAB lists these orchids as Habenaria psychodes var. grandiflora and H. psychodes var. psychodes. They are now recognized as distinct species.)