Triphora trianthophoros (Swartz) Rydberg var. trianthophoros. Common name: Three Birds Orchid, Nodding Pogonia, Nodding Ettercap. Phenology: Jul-Sep; Sep-Nov. Habitat: Humid forests and swamps, rhododendron thickets, especially on rotten logs or on humus, in the mountains often under hemlock. Distribution: The species is widespread (but scattered) in e. North America, and south into Central America. Var. trianthophoros occurs from ME and ON west to WI, south to c. peninsular FL and e. TX; disjunct in nc. Mexico; var. mexicana (S. Watson) P.M. Brown occurs from Mexico south to Central America.
ID notes: The flowers are extremely ephemeral, making the species very difficult to locate.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Taxonomy Comments: Var. mexicana (S. Watson) P.M. Brown is distributed from Mexico south to n. Central America. Var. texensis P.M. Brown & R.B. Pike was named in 2006 (Brown & Pike 2006) and needs additional evaluation before being accepted. The correct spelling of the epithet of this species is "trianthophoros."
Synonymy ⓘ: = NY; Arethusa trianthophoros Sw. = Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. ssp. trianthophora — Ar, FNA26, orthographic variant; = Triphora trianthophoros (Sw.) Rydb. ssp. trianthophoros — Can, POWO; < Arethusa trianthophoros Sw.; < Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. — C, ETx1, F, G, GW1, Il, Mi, Mo1, NS, Pa, RAB, S, S13, Tat, Tn, W, WV, Correll (1950), Luer (1975); < Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. ssp. trianthophora — NE, Va, orthographic variant; > Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. var. schaffneri Camp — Tx; > Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. var. texensis — NSProv, Brown & Pike (2006); < Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. var. trianthophora — Pa, orthographic variant; > Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. var. trianthophora — NSProv, Tx, Brown & Pike (2006), orthographic variant; < Triphora trianthophoros (Sw.) Rydb. — K4, WH3. Basionym: Arethusa trianthophoros Sw. 1800
Links to other floras: = Triphora trianthophora ssp. trianthophora - FNA26
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU (name change)
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: UPL (name change)
- Great Plains: FACU (name change)
- Midwest: FACU (name change)
- Northcentral & Northeast: FACU (name change)
Heliophily ⓘ: 2
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.
© Andrew Lane Gibson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Andrew Lane Gibson source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Andrew Lane Gibson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Andrew Lane Gibson source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Eric Keith, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Eric Keith source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Eric Keith, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Eric Keith source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷Feedback
See something missing or incorrect about Triphora trianthophoros var. trianthophoros? Let us know here:
- Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
- If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
- Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
- Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
- Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.
Horticultural Information
No horticultural data found for this taxon.