Once you spot the yellow-fringed orchids (Habenaria ciliaris) as you struggle up a steep slope while hiking during the heat of a September afternoon, you may wish you had never seen them. Their milky orange-yellow flowers may make your mouth water, as they can’t help but remind you of what a treat a Creamsicle—that refreshingly frozen treat of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream—would be for your sweating body.
Besides open woodlands, the plant may be found on dry hillsides, and in meadows, grassy bogs and peaty soils.
The Cherokee Indians made a hot tea from the roots to treat diarrhea, while a cold infusion was used to relieve headaches. In addition, they put a bit of the raw root on their fish hooks as experience seemed to show that it would attract more fish than using some other kind of bait just by itself. The Seminoles used the root, both internally and externally, for snakebites. (There is no evidence that this was effective, so be sure to seek immediate medical help if you are bitten.)
When looking to other sources for further information about the yellow-fringed orchid, you should be aware that some reference books follow the classifications of John T. Kartesz and place the flower within the genus Platanthera.
Flower Fast Facts
FLOWER: Growing in large terminal clusters, the flowers of the yellow-fringed orchid have a lower lip that is deeply fringed and can be almost three quarters of an inch in length. A long, slim spur of one and a half inches extends backward and downwards from the base of the flower.
LEAVES AND STEM: The leaves are lanceolate, and sheath the stem, which may reach a height of two feet. The lower leaves can grow to be 10 inches long, while the upper ones are much shorter.
AVERAGE BLOOM SEASON: July to September
About This Series
“Mountain Wildflowers” features a wildflower from the Blue Ridge region each month from March to October. Leonard M. Adkins has written for Blue Ridge Country for more than two decades and is the author of 20 books about travel, hiking and nature. His Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, which received the prestigious National Outdoor Book Award, provides the photographs and some of the information he writes about in each “Mountain Wildflowers.” It and his other works may be obtained through his website.
