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• Calopogon tuberosus

Calopogon tuberosus — tuberous grass-pink

Facts

Tuberous grass-pink has the broadest range of any of the five species in the grass-pink genus (Calopogon), and the only one found in New England. The knobbed hairs on the lip are believed to imitate pollen, thus attracting pollen-collecting bees. The actual pollen is deposited via a pollinium on the upper side of the bee's abdomen, where the bee cannot reach it.

Habitat

Bogs, fens (calcium-rich wetlands), meadows and fields, swamps, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Flower bract length

  3–30 mm

  Flower petal color

  • pink
  • white

  Flower symmetry

  there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)

  Flowering date

  • August
  • July
  • June

  Flowers per inflorescence

  1–25

  Form of lower petal

  the labellum does not have a pouch-like shape

  Hairs on flower stalk

  NA

  Hairs on inflorescence axis

  the main stem of the inflorescence is hairless

  Inflorescence length

  100–380 mm

  Inflorescence type

  the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Labellum position

  the labellum is in the upper position on the flower

  Length of flower stalk

  0 mm

  Length of narrowed base of lower petal

  0 mm

  Lobes at base of lower petal

  0 mm

  Lower petal characteristics

  the labellum is lobed

  Lower petal length

  11–23 mm

  Lower petal outline

  the labellum is lobed but not fringed

  Lower petal strongly red-veined

  no

  Main color of lower petal

  • pink to red
  • white

  Nectar spur

  there are no nectar spurs on the flower

  Nectar spur length

  0 mm

  Number of stamens

  1

  Pollen sacs

  the pollinia remain intact and do not fragment into smaller parts

  Self-pollinating flowers

  there are no cleistogamous flowers on this plant

  Sepal length

  13–31 mm

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Shape of viscidium

  NA

  Spots on lower petal

  no

  Spur opening membrane

  NA

  Spur opening shape

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit length

  13–30 mm

  Fruit width

  5–10 mm

  Seed capsule orientation

  the capsule points upwards or is angled outwards

• Growth form

  Plant green or not

  the plant is chlorophyllous (it has green parts)

  Roots

  the rhizomes do not resemble coral

  Underground organs

  • the plant has one or more swollen storage organs underground, such as bulbs, tubers or corms
  • there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Bract relative length

  the bract is shorter than the associated flower

  Features of leaves

  the leaf has a strong bend or joint (articulation) in it

  Leaf arrangement

  the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade edges

  the edges of the leaf blade have no teeth

  Leaf blade length

  30–500 mm

  Leaf blade length to width ratio

  10–15

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Leaf blade width

  2–50 mm

  Leaves during flowering

  there are leaves on the plant when it is flowering

  Number of bracts on stem

  2–3

  Number of leaves on stem

  absent

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • bogs
  • edges of wetlands
  • fens (calcium-rich wetlands)
  • meadows or fields
  • swamps

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae