MaltaWildPlants.com by Stephen Mifsud
 
     
   19 Mar 2024      ()
External Links:
 


Spiranthes spiralis   (Autumn Lady's Tresses)


Spiranthes spiralis  (ORCHIDACEAE.) 
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.

Page Contents + Links

 
General Information Species Images
External Links Support and sales
Submit information Facebook community
Sponsors & Adverts Copyright notes
Detailed species profile
Orchidaceae Index Plant Family Index
 
This profile is brought to you by one of the website's sponsors.
[read more...]
Profile Date Oct-2006 (taxon update: Oct-2006)
Citation for this page Mifsud, S. (2022). Spiranthes spiralis - datasheet created on Oct-2006. Retrieved from MaltaWildPlants.com on 19-Mar-2024

Nomenclature and Basic Information

Species name :

Spiranthes spiralisChevall.
Published in Fl. Gén. Env. Paris 2: 330 (1827)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Spiranthes autumnalis (Balb.) Rich.
Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life] [Worldplants.de]

Plant Family :

Orchidaceae Juss. (The Orchid Family)
41 species from the Orchidaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Autumn Lady's Tresses

Maltese name(s) :

Ħajja u mejta tal-ħarifa

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common    Frequent     Scarce     Rare    Very rare    Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: GEOPHYTE ( bearing underground bulbs, rhizomes, stolons, etc. )
Germination [info]: Monocotyledon

Legal Protection :

Protected by law: Schedule VI of [S.L. 549.44] (strictly protected species)

Red List (1989) :

Threatened status for the Maltese Islands and has been listed in the Red Data Book (1st ed.)

Flowering Time :

October – November

Colour of Flowers:

White or Green

Toxicity:

Not particularly toxic

Name Derivation :

Spiranthes: from speira meaning spiral, and anthos for flower, referring to spiral arrangement of the flowers along the flowering spike. (Greek origin )
spiralis: spiral arrangement (referring to the flowers). (Latin origin )

Planting in rural areas :

Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines


Description, Habitat and Distribution
Habitat in Europe: Grassland.
Preferred habitat in Malta: Low garigue, steppes, disturbed rocky ground, preferring exposed and arid areas.
Botanical Description: Roots tuber-like, oblong-ellipsoid. Stem 6-20(-35) cm, glandular-pubescent, bearing 3-7 closely appressed, lanceolate scale-leaves. Foliage-leaves 2-3.5 cm, ovate-elliptical, acute, glabrous, glaucous, in a basal rosette, usually withered at anthesis, but next year's rosette appears during anthesis beside the flowering stem. Spike 3-10 cm, slender, with 6-20 flowers in one spiral row. Bracts 6-7 mm, acuminate. Perianth-segments 6-7 mm, oblong, white, the upper 3 connivent and forming with the labellum a tube enclosing the column, the outer lateral segments patent. Labellum 6-7 mm, with upwardly curved margins and undulate-crenulate apex, yellowish-green. Flowering in autumn or late summer.
Chromosome number: 2n=30
Distributional range: S., W. & C. Europe, extending northwards to E. Denmark.

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):
Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):
All except the Azores, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and former USSR, N B C K E Svalbard archipelago, Sweden
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019)
  Country codes  
Ag Al Au Be Bl Br Bu Co Cr Cy Cz Da Ga Ge Gr Hb He Ho Hs Hu It Ju LS Lu Ma Po Rf(CS) Rm Sa Si Tcs Tn Tu(A E) Uk(U)

Links & Further literature (0 papers)

Google Web

Google Images

Google Scholar

Research Gate

Wikipedia

JSTOR

GBIF

Med Checklist

Cat. of Life

EoL

IPNI

World Flora Online

Plants of the World Online

Vienna Virt. Herb.

RBGE Herbarium

KEW Herbarium

MNHN

Arkive

IUCN

CABI
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.

Species Images (28 images)
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-0.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-1.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-2.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-3.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-4.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-5.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-6.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-7.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-8.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-9.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-10.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-11.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-12.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-13.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-14.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-15.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-16.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-17.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-18.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-19.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-20.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-21.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-22.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-23.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-24.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-25.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-26.
   Spiranthes spiralis   -   Image Code: SPISP-27.

Buy Seeds and Docs
Sales of seeds of wild plants for academic studies, research or personal use. Note that not all species seeds can be exported - depending on Maltese regulations and CITES, and availability depends on season. You are hence kindly requested to first fill and submit a quotation form by which you will get confirmation of the purchase, availability and charges. Currently local orders are not taken.   Online Quotation (Seeds)

Buy images found in this large online collection of Maltese flora photographed by the author (Stephen Mifsud). Prices reasonable and rated differently according size and resolution. Buying images for your projects will support this website. When placing an order please take note of the image code specific for every image in the corresponding species webpage (found beneath each individual photo) since this is required when filling the online ordering form. Images are normally sold as a license with the copyright reserved to the author, but sales of copyright of exceptional images can be considered.   Online Purchase (Images)
Kindly consider to support this website by giving a small donation. This will help to cover some expenses needed to maintain the website and its further development without any adverts. Please login into your PayPal account and use the email: info@maltawildplants.com as email address to send your donation   Online Donation


$int_menu2[8]
Use this form to submit more information on this species or report mistakes in this webpage. If information supplied is taken from a book, journal or website, please provide the corresponding reference or website address. Your email address is only for internal communication. Please report only Maltese locations for plants that indicated as rare or very rare (refer to the nomenclature section above). Please do report mistakes, broken links, technical errors, typing / grammar errors, misidentifications or taxonomical updates; this will help to improve the website's accuracy. Thanks you! Fill any of the three sections (A/B/C) below and kindly submit the form.     * = required fields.
Plant Species:  *
Your name:   * Your Email:   *
 
Section A:  Additional Information about this plant species
Own observations: Info from published material (books, journals, website):
Reference of published material:
 
Section B:   Where have you seen this plant on the Maltese Islands?
Locations in Malta or Gozo where you have seen this plant. Only applies for rare plants.

1:       2:       3:   
4:       5:       6:   
Try to be as concise as possible. Examples: Dingli Cliffs (near chapel), Wied Incita (Zebbug side), Triq il-Kbira (Qormi), Barriera ta' Ghajn Abdul (Xlendi), Fields East of Salib tal-gholja (Siggiewi). GPS co-ordinates are also welcomed!
Section C:  Corrections for mistakes and errors in this plant profile
Section of this page where you found an error (select one)
What is the error/mistake and suggest a correction
AntiSpam Verification: Please answer these simple questions:   10 + 5 =     This website is about
          




MaltaWildPlants.com is supported by:
[ EcoGozo, Ministry for Gozo ] [ Projects in Motion ] [ Sunrise Pet & Garden Centre] [ MycoMalta ]
Webpage is copyright of Stephen Mifsud / www.MaltaWildPlants.com - (2002-2022)