Platanthera praeclara

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Orchidaceae
Subfamilia: Orchidoideae
Tribus: Orchideae
Subtribus: Orchidinae
Genus: Platanthera
Species: Platanthera praeclara
Name

Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & M.L.Bowles, Rhodora 88: 278 (1986)
Synonymy

Homotypic
Habenaria leucophaea var. praeclara (Sheviak & M.L.Bowles) Cronquist in H.A.Gleason & A.Cronquist, Man. Vasc. Pl. Northeast. U.S., ed. 2: 864 (1991)
Fimbriella praeclara (Sheviak & M.L.Bowles) Szlach. & Rutk., Acta Bot. Fenn. 169: 380 (2000)
Blephariglottis praeclara (Sheviak & M.L.Bowles) Baumbach & Lückel, Die Orchidee (Hamburg) 60: 126 (2009)

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Northern America
Western Canada
Manitoba.
Northwestern U.S.A.
Wyoming.
North-Central U.S.A.
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References
Primary references

Sheviak, C.J. & Bowles, M.L. 1986. The prairie fringed orchids: a pollinator-isolated species pair. Rhodora 88(854): 267–290. BHL Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Platanthera praeclara in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 September 4. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Platanthera praeclara in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 September 4. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Platanthera praeclara. Published online. Accessed: 4 September 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Platanthera praeclara in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 September 4.
Tropicos.org 2019. Platanthera praeclara. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 September 4.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Platanthera praeclara in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 7 Aug 2006.

Vernacular names

English: Western prairie fringed orchid

Platanthera praeclara, known as the western prairie fringed orchid and the Great Plains white fringed orchid, is a rare and threatened species of orchid native to North America.

Distribution

Historically, Platanthera praeclara was found in tallgrass prairies west of the Mississippi River. It occurred from extreme southern Canada south to northeast Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, historical records (1975) exist for Craig and Rogers Counties.

Currently, extant populations of the orchid are found in Iowa, Kansas, Manitoba, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota.[1][2]
Description

Platanthera praeclara arises from a fleshy tuber. It grows from 38 to 85 centimeters (1 ft 3 in to 2 ft 9 in) tall. Each plant can have up to two dozen or more flowers arranged in a stalk. P. praeclara is distinguished from Platanthera leucophaea, the eastern prairie fringed orchid, by its slightly larger flowers, petal shape, and longer nectar spur.

Platanthera praeclara is a long-lived perennial. It emerges in May and blooms in June or in July further north. The flowers are fragrant at night and are pollinated by large sphinx moths. P. praeclara is a plant of the tallgrass prairie and requires direct sunlight for growth. It is most often found in moist habitats or sedge meadows. P. praeclara has persisted in areas that have been lightly grazed, periodically burned, or regularly mowed. It is not yet understood how these activities affect plant survival. It may be that removal of dead grass mulch is beneficial, but heavy grazing is detrimental.

Conservation

The plant has been listed as a threatened species in the United States since 1989, and in 2008 it was listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[3]

The major factor contributing to the decline of P. praeclara has been the conversion of native prairie to croplands. Fire suppression, overgrazing, and habitat fragmentation also have contributed to the decline of the species.

The species was listed as endangered in Canada in 2003.[4] The Canadian population is considered relatively stable though limited to a small geographic area.[5] The Nature Conservancy of Canada has protected habitat for 25% of the global population of Western Prairie Fringed Orchid.[6]

References

Sheviak, Charles J. (2002). "Platanthera praeclara". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). 26. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
"Platanthera praeclara". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
Goedeke, T., et al. 2008. Platanthera praeclara. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 20 July 2013.
Environment Canada. 2006. Recovery Strategy for the Western Prairie Fringed-orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Environment Canada, Ottawa. v + 22 pp.http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/document/default_e.cfm?documentID=916
Bleho, B., N. Koper, C. Borkowsky & C. Hamel. 2015. Effects of Weather and Land Management on the Western Prairie Fringed-orchid (Platanthera praeclara) at the Northern Limit of its Range in Manitoba, Canada. American Midland-Naturalist 174(2):191-203 https://www.researchgate.net/
Nature Conservancy of Canada. 2016. News Release: Nature Conservancy of Canada in Manitoba making gains in the protection of the endangered western prairie fringed orchid. http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/manitoba/news/nature-conservancy-of-canada-6.html Accessed November 9, 2017