Tipularia discolor

Cranefly Orchid

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Orchidaceae

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: July - August

Cranefly Orchid has a single leaf which is green on top and deep purple on its underside; the leaf is not present when the plant is blooming. The flower stalk is about a foot tall. Each non-showy flower (thought to resemble a cranefly) is only 1 cm across and can be hard to spot unless you're looking for them.

It is reported to be pollinated by noctuid moths which, because the flowers are slightly tilted left and right, get pollen smudged onto their left or right compound eye.

22 March 2015 Scott's Run Nature Preserve, McLean, VA (showing green top side of leaf)	22 March 2015 Scott's Run Nature Preserve, McLean, VA (showing purple underside of leaf)	29 May 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA (leaf dying off before flowering stalk emerges)	29 September 2018 Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA (newly emerged leaves may be purple on top)
27 July 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA	27 July 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA	8 August 2014 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA	14 August 2020 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA

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