We’d hiked along the woodland in southern Indiana in late fall, reveling in the piles of downed tree leaves. But here were green leaves, and they weren’t on trees. They were sprouting from the ground! Not only that, but they seemed to be in 2 varieties. One had closely spaced white veins running the length of the dark green leaf, while the other had no veins but small dark splotches. Then Diana accidentally flipped over the latter leaf, and all we could say was “Ooooohhhhh”. It was an almost iridescent purple, very different from the dark green on the top. Both appeared to be single leaves for each plant, with no stalks, stems, flowers or fruits around any of the leaves.
It turns out that we were lucky enough to see 2 of the more unusual orchids in the Midwest: Putty-root (Aplectrum hyemale) and Crane-fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). Both are fairly widespread, and have the unusual, endearing habit of popping up their main leaves during late fall and keeping them up all winter. Since then, we’ve run across them in many locations in Ohio, even in some of our local Metro Parks. Winter and early spring is the best time to look for these orchids. Their leaves decay in late spring, before the plants flower, and their flowers are small and easily overlooked in the riot of green plants that is the deciduous woodland floor in spring and summer.
Putty-root orchid is found in a wide swath from Missouri north to Ontario and east to New England. Its oddly-veined leaves appear to crinkle along the veins, a trick that may allow them to flex as the temperature changes during winter, avoiding freeze-thaw cycles destroying the leaf. The leaves start to decay in late spring, about the same time the plant sends up a shoot and buds about 8-12 small greenish flowers. Pollinators are little studied for these orchids, but are likely small solitary bees; many of these plants also self-pollinate. After pollination, the “fruits” are a dry capsule that contain thousands of tiny seeds. Like many orchids, these seeds are released to the wind and only the lucky few that land on moist soil with the right type of commensal fungi will survive and grow into another plant. What’s with the funny name, Putty-root? Turns out that the underground stem-bulbs, called corms, have a sticky mucus that was used as a type of glue to mend pots and ceramics. The corms will also develop along the root system, sprouting a new leaf, so that many times you’ll find clusters of the leaves, a clone from a single founding plant.
Crane-fly Orchid has a range very similar to that of Putty-root, though it appears not to reach Canada. It seems more common in the South, and less common here in the Midwest. We’ve seen it much less than putty-root. The purple sheen on the leaf underside apparently helps reflect some sunlight back through the leaf so that the green portions of the leaf get a double dose of light. When the leaves die back, the plants send up a stalk that branches off 12-20 tiny whitish flowers with nectar spurs on each. Pollinators for Crane-fly orchid are not crane-flies, but small moths that are attracted by the pale color and the nectar spurs that only allow their long proboscises to get at the nectar. The plants have similar fruiting and dispersal strategies to putty-root, and the 2 species seem to prefer similar habitats. The name, Crane-fly orchid, seems to be a vague reference to the shape of the flower.
So where can you hunt for these beauties? They seem to like mature beech-maple forest with good leaf litter and moist soil. Often they’re on the slopes leading down to creeks or ravines. Blendon Woods and Slate Run offer good hunting spots, and some parts of Battelle Darby and Clear Creek also have them. Larger forest tracts like Shawnee State Forest and the Wayne National Forest should also have them, probably lots of them, since the seeds would have lots of habitat to land in. Keep your eyes peeled as you hike around in February and March. These little flags of green might signal some really special plants that you might not otherwise notice.