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- Liparis liliifolia
Liparis liliifolia — lily-leaved wide-lipped orchid
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Facts
Lily-leaved wide-lipped orchid is globally secure, but its New England populations have apparently been in decline for over a century, with nearly ninety percent of populations having been lost. It is found in open woodlands with neutral to basic substrates.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forests, shrublands or thickets, swamps, woodlands
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
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Characteristics
- Habitat
-
- terrestrial
- wetlands
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Leaf arrangement
- basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant
- Number of leaves on stem
- absent
- Form of lower petal
- the labellum does not have a pouch-like shape
- Lower petal outline
- the labellum is simple in form
- Main color of lower petal
-
- blue to purple
- green to brown
- Nectar spur
- there are no nectar spurs on the flower
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
- Lower petal characteristics
-
- the labellum is fringed
- the labellum is simple in form
- Lower petal length
- 8–12 mm
- Sepal length
- 8–11.5 mm
-
Flowers
- Flower bract length
- 1–2 mm
- Flower petal color
- purple
- Flower symmetry
- there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)
- Flowering date
-
- July
- June
- Flowers per inflorescence
- 5–31
- Form of lower petal
- the labellum does not have a pouch-like shape
- Hairs on inflorescence axis
- the main stem of the inflorescence is hairless
- Inflorescence length
- 40–150 mm
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
- Labellum position
- the labellum is in the lower position on the flower
- Length of flower stalk
- 5–7 mm
- Length of peduncle
- 90–250 mm
- Lower petal characteristics
-
- the labellum is fringed
- the labellum is simple in form
- Lower petal length
- 8–12 mm
- Lower petal outline
- the labellum is simple in form
- Lower petal strongly red-veined
-
- no
- yes
- Main color of lower petal
-
- blue to purple
- green to brown
- Nectar spur
- there are no nectar spurs on the flower
- Nectar spur length
- 0 mm
- Number of stamens
- 1
- Orientation of side petals
- the lateral petals slant somewhat downward
- Self-pollinating flowers
- there are no cleistogamous flowers on this plant
- Sepal length
- 8–11.5 mm
- Sepals fused only to sepals
- the sepals are separate from one another
- Spots on lower petal
- no
- Spur opening membrane
- NA
- Spur opening shape
- NA
-
Fruits or seeds
- Seed capsule orientation
- the capsule points upwards or is angled outwards
-
Growth form
- Plant green or not
- the plant is chlorophyllous (it has green parts)
- Roots
- the rhizomes do not resemble coral
- Underground organs
-
- the plant has one or more swollen storage organs underground, such as bulbs, tubers or corms
- there are only slender roots on the plant
- this plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)
-
Leaves
- Bract relative length
- the bract is shorter than the associated flower
- Features of leaves
- the leaf does not have any of the mentioned special features
- Leaf arrangement
- basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant
- Leaf blade edges
- the edges of the leaf blade have no teeth
- Leaf blade length
- 40–180 mm
- Leaf blade length to width ratio
- 2–2.1
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
- the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
- Leaf blade tip
-
- the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
- the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
- Leaf blade width
- 20–85 mm
- Leaves during flowering
- there are leaves on the plant when it is flowering
- Number of bracts on stem
- 0
- Number of leaves on stem
- absent
-
Place
- Habitat
-
- terrestrial
- wetlands
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Specific habitat
-
- forests
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- shrublands or thickets
- swamps
- woodlands
Wetland status
Not classified
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- present
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- absent
- Rhode Island
- present
- Vermont
- present
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Connecticut
- extremely rare (S-rank: S1), endangered (code: E)
- Massachusetts
- rare (S-rank: S2), threatened (code: T)
- Rhode Island
- state historical (code: SH)
- Vermont
- extremely rare (S-rank: S1), threatened (code: T)
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
1. Liparis liliifolia (L.) L.C. Rich ex Lindl. NC
lily-leaved wide-lipped orchid. Leptorchis liliifolia (L.) Kuntze; Malaxis liliifolia (L.) Sw.; Ophrys liliifolia L. • CT, MA, RI, VT. Dry-mesic to wet-mesic forests and woodlands, often on soils influenced by middle to high-pH bedrock such as limestone, trap, and sandstone. Reports of this species in NH are based on a fruiting specimen of Liparis loeselii.
Native to North America?
Yes
Sometimes confused with
- Liparis loeselii:
- labellum green to yellow-green or yellow-white, 4–5.5 mm long, and fruiting pedicel 3–7 mm long, shorter than the capsule (vs. L. liliifolia, with the labellum brown-purple, 8–12 mm long, and fruiting pedicel 11–18 mm long, nearly as long as or slightly longer than the capsule).
Synonyms
- Leptorchis liliifolia (L.) Kuntze
- Malaxis liliifolia (L.) Sw.
- Ophrys liliifolia L.