North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Tipularia discolor

Tipularia discolor (Pursh) Nutt.

cranefly orchid, crippled cranefly

Image ID: 9656
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TIDI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tipularia discolor
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-01-10

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TIPUL
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Tipularia
GENUS AUTHORITY: Nutt.
GENUS COMMON: Tipularia
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 3 species; the other species of the genus are e. Asian (1 in Japan and 1 in the Himalayas) (Catling & Sheviak in FNA 2002).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: The leaves are present during the winter, withering before the flowering stalk appears, the plant thus occasionally mistaken for one of the saprophytic orchids. The leaves are usually purple underneath, a characteristic shared with Aplectrum, but Tipularia leaf blades are ovate, < 10 cm long, and are not notably plicate along the veins (vs. Aplectrum, with leaf blades narrowly elliptic, 10-20 cm long, and notably plicate along the very prominent, white, cartilaginous veins).
GENUS REFERENCES: Catling & Sheviak in FNA (2002a); Correll (1950)=X.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ORCHID
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Orchidaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Orchid Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 800 genera and 19,000 species, perennial (rarely annual), mycotrophic herbs and vines (many epiphytic).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Luer (1972) and Luer (1975)=L; Correll (1950)=X; Romero-González, Fernández-Concha, Dressler, Magrath, & Argus in FNA (Williams & Williams (1983); Brown (2003); Homoya (1993); Correll (1937); Pridgeon et al. (1999a, 1999b, 1999c).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial found in moist to fairly dry forests.
STEMS: Stem consists of a bronze-purple, smooth, naked flowering scape arising from a corm after leaves have withered.
LEAVES: Leaves (2-5) in a basal cluster, arising in winter without the flowering stalk; oval-elliptic, to 4 in. long, lightly pleated, dull green with purple bumps above and glossy purple beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers 20-40 on an elongated raceme terminating the scape, greenish-yellow to bronze or purple, about 1 in. long and drooping, bilaterally symmetric, consisting of 5 oblong-oval sepals and an ornate fused-petal structure with a 3-lobed lower lip and nectar spur.
FRUITS: Fruit an oval capsule held closely parallel to the scape.
COMMENTS: Pollinated by nocturnal moths, the flower is reminiscent of a cranefly. Like all orchids, it needs fungal (mycorrhizal) associates to germinate and grow--apparently those found in rotting wood.
HEIGHT: 4-20 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Basal
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Sep

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Greenish-yellow to bronze and purple

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x	x			x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
266	HORT	2005-01-01	Randall	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
261	2011-0103	2011-05-04	266	View
2442	1986-2283			View
4190	1992-0346			View
5001	1995-0120			View
5207	1995-0326			View
5726	1995-0852			View
6346	1995-1478			View
6778	1996-0443			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
627	261	25	NCBG staff	2011-04-07	View
628	261	12	Liloia	2011-10-10	View
629	261	24	Liloia	2012-10-05	View
4150	2442	27	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
6518	4190	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7420	5001	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7660	5207	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8240	5726	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
9001	6346	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
9587	6778	8	NCBG staff	1996-12-16	View
13087	0	18	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13136	0	15	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TIDI
USDA Common Name: Crippled Cranefly
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				FACU	FAC		FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tipularia discolor
COMMON NAME: Cranefly Orchid
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, K, L, Pa, RAB, Tn, Va, W, WH3, WV, X; = T. unifolia (Muhlenberg) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg - S]
PHENOLOGY: Jul-Sep.
HABITAT: In a wide variety of mesic to rather dry forests.
COMMENTS: Se. MA, s. NY, OH, IN, and s. MI south to n. peninsular FL and TX. Along with Goodyera pubescens, Tipularia is one of the commonest orchids in e. North America.
RANGE MAP: Tipularia discolor.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Orchidaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Orchid Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 800 genera and 19,000 species, perennial (rarely annual), mycotrophic herbs and vines (many epiphytic).
REFERENCE: Luer (1972) and Luer (1975)=L; Correll (1950)=X; Romero-González, Fernández-Concha, Dressler, Magrath, & Argus in FNA (Williams & Williams (1983); Brown (2003); Homoya (1993); Correll (1937); Pridgeon et al. (1999a, 1999b, 1999c).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Tipularia Nutt. (Tipularia)
SUMMARY: A genus of 3 species; the other species of the genus are e. Asian (1 in Japan and 1 in the Himalayas) (Catling & Sheviak in FNA 2002).
REFERENCE: Catling & Sheviak in FNA (2002a); Correll (1950)=X.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Tipularia discolor in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Tipularia discolor in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Tipularia discolor in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Tipularia discolor in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Tipularia discolor in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Tipularia discolor

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9656 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 9656 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 17818 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 21914 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)