Habenaria repens Nuttall. Common name: Water-spider Orchid, Floating Orchid. Phenology: Apr-Nov. Habitat: Blackwater swamps, pools, banks of creeks and rivers, marshes. Distribution: Se. VA and NC south to s. FL and west to e. and s. TX; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and n. South America.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, ETx1, FNA26, GW1, K4, NcTx, NS, POWO, RAB, S, Tx, WH3, WI, Batista et al (2011), Brown (2002), Correll (1950), Luer (1975); = n/a — C; > Habenaris nuttallii Small — S13; > Habenaria repens Nutt. — S13; Habenaria repens Nutt. Basionym: Habenaria repens Nutt. 1818
Links to other floras: = Habenaria repens - FNA26
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL
- Great Plains: OBL
Heliophily ⓘ: 6
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© Alan Cressler: Habenaria repens, Boiling Springs Lake, Brunswick County, North Carolina 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Floyd A. Griffith | Original Image ⭷
© Alvin Diamond, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alvin Diamond source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Floyd A. Griffith | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Alvin Diamond, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alvin Diamond source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect perennial of blackwater swamps, pools and banks of creeks and rivers, often found in floating mats of vegetation.
Stems: Stems unbranched, leafy and smooth.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, sessile-clasping, lance-shaped, to 10 in. long (reduced up the stem), with prominent parallel veins, thick and fleshy.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in a crowded, terminal spikelike raceme, each with a leaflike bract; flowers green, about ½ in. wide, consisting of 3 sepals and 3 petals that are divided into very narrow segments, making the bloom resemble a spider; a slender spur curves below each flower.
Fruits:
Comments: At night flowers emit a strong vanilla-like fragrance that attracts moth pollinators.
Height: 4-20 in.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Erect perennial of blackwater swamps, pools and banks of creeks and rivers, often found in floating mats of vegetation.
stems: Stems unbranched, leafy and smooth.
leaves: Leaves alternate, sessile-clasping, lance-shaped, to 10 in. long (reduced up the stem), with prominent parallel veins, thick and fleshy.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in a crowded, terminal spikelike raceme, each with a leaflike bract; flowers green, about ½ in. wide, consisting of 3 sepals and 3 petals that are divided into very narrow segments, making the bloom resemble a spider; a slender spur curves below each flower.
fruits:
comments: At night flowers emit a strong vanilla-like fragrance that attracts moth pollinators.
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range:
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