Tuesday, February 9, 2010

What is This ?



As I was gathering chickweed Sunday I found this plant , I've often seen it on my walks in the woods , but I haven't been able to identify it until yesterday. I thought it was putty root , but after more searching I found it on the internet , it's a Crane-Fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). I'm not sure if I've ever seen it bloom , the leaves die before it blooms , making it hard to know what kind of bloom it may be. I plan to put some rocks around these leaves , so I'll know were it was growing , this plant is growing at the edge of the woods , near the garden. The leaves appear in the Fall and stay green through Winter , the leaves start start dying as the weather gets warmer. After the leaves die , it blooms in late summer.I hope to see the bloom this year , I'm an orchid lover , so this discovery was very exciting. I don't think this plant has any medicinal properties , I didn't find any information about herbal use. I did find a great article about the Crane-Fly Orchid , it has some beautiful pics of plant in bloom. You can read about it in the next post.


~~ Greenest Blessings ~~
JoyceAnn

4 comments:

Jeanne said...

I look forward to your next post.
I have never seen a Crane-Fly Orchid. I wonder if they grow around here....

JoyceAnn said...

Jeanne ~ I've already posted that link , be sure to check it out. I'm not sure if they grow in your area , but I'll see if I can find out.


~ Be Blessed ~

Comfrey Cottages said...

good identifying joyceann! how cool is that?! especially for an orchid lover:) i am off to visit the link. herbal and honey hugs to you:)

JoyceAnn said...

Jeanne ~ They do grow in Arkansas , you should look for the leaves now. I went to feed the chickens this morning and decided I would mark the plant I had found since it was near the garden and chicken coop. I couldn't find the leaves , I did find an area I had pulled the leaves away from to take a photo , but the leaves are gone. I believe something eat them , probably deer since I saw them in that area Sunday night when I went to close the coop. I'll have to find another plant and fence it in if I get to see a bloom (LOL).

~ Green Blessings ~