Spiranthes ×sierrae

Sierra ladies' tresses

Family: Orchidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sierra ladies' tresses is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in wet meadows, fens, seeps, and wet roadsides at elevations of 1,600 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from July to August, this delicate orchid produces greenish-ivory flowers tightly spiraled along the stem, with a distinctive fiddle-shaped lip featuring a greenish-yellow center. Growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall with slender, upright stems, the plant emerges from linear-lanceolate basal leaves. Its bell-shaped flowers have spreading lateral sepals and create an elegant, twisting floral arrangement characteristic of the ladies' tresses orchids. The mature plant produces light brown fruits that develop after the flowering period.

Habitat: Wet meadows, fens, seeps, wet roadsides

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1600-2000 m

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.