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Platanthera lacera; photograph (c) Alex Day, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Alex Day, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-08-05

Platanthera lacera (Michx.) G.Don

Green fringed orchid; Ragged fringed orchid; Ragged fringe orchid; Green fringed bog orchid

Orchidaceae · Manitoba, New Brunswick +39

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Platanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPlatanthera lacera, photograph author not stated, no rights reserved 90 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-17.3°C
Record low -28.5 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
26°C
Jul at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,223mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
10–39DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 9 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Platanthera lacera is an orchid in the genus Platanthera, native throughout Eastern United States and Canada. It occurs in a variety of habitats ranging from “mesic and dry-mesic sand prairie, wet sedge meadow, calcareous fen, sphagnum bog, acid seep spring, dry field, mesic flatwoods, and mesic upland forests.”

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Platanthera lacera", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (941 mm of 1,205 mm) takes 9 months, March to November. Mean temperature moves 25.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to May.

Rain

1,205 mm in the median year at the habitat, 941 mm of it March to November. Wettest month June at 111 mm, driest month February at 79 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 871 mm to 1,487 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,223 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,205 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 10 to 39 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 7, the highest 90th-percentile month 41).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -17.3 °C, the absolute minimum -28.5 °C, 6,109 frost nights in 44 years, 138.8 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.6 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -7.2 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -13.9 °C to -2.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 26.2 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -17.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -25 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Platanthera lacera through the yearWarmest month July, mean daily high 26 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low -7.2 °C; 1,205 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-40°-20°0°20°40°frost33.6° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-28.5° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 10–39RH 56–61%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 779 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C0 / -6–62 / -4–87 / 1–1314 / 6–1919 / 12–2324 / 18–2826 / 21–3025 / 21–2921 / 18–2615 / 11–209 / 5–143 / -2–8
Night °C-7 / -14–-2-6 / -13–-1-2 / -7–33 / -1–89 / 5–1415 / 11–1917 / 15–2117 / 15–2113 / 11–177 / 4–112 / -2–6-4 / -10–0
Rain mm86 / 43–12279 / 41–11199 / 51–127102 / 71–127108 / 86–141111 / 93–136110 / 89–136102 / 84–124105 / 87–127104 / 74–136100 / 70–14299 / 54–141
DLI12 / 10–1518 / 16–2026 / 24–2732 / 30–3437 / 34–3839 / 37–4138 / 37–4134 / 32–3627 / 24–2919 / 16–2312 / 9–1610 / 7–13
RH %61 / 57–6559 / 56–6457 / 55–6156 / 55–6158 / 56–6159 / 57–6360 / 57–6460 / 58–6460 / 58–6359 / 57–6260 / 57–6361 / 57–65
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 779 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (923 records in those cells; 5 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 977:2078 (41.125, -76.075). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -28.5 °C, 1st-percentile night -17.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 779 distinct grid cells holding 923 of the 928 in-range records (5 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 977:2078 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 41.00_-76.250, lapse-corrected -25 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 308 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeManitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward I., Québec, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., Vermont, West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia, Costa Rica · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker39.749, -76.164 · in the densest population, 972 records (53% of those in range)
Kew's description“perennial or tuberous geophyte” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1842 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 923 of them in the land cells it reads, of 928 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 592 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 73 km away. 5 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 914 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1842 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Platanthera lacera, photograph 1did not loadPlatanthera lacera, photograph 2did not loadPlatanthera lacera, photograph 3did not loadPlatanthera lacera, photograph 4did not loadPlatanthera lacera, photograph 5did not loadPlatanthera lacera, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (6).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Solidago rugosa Solidago rugosa Rough-stemmed goldenrod Photo: CC BY, Sandy WolkenbergGaylussacia baccata Gaylussacia baccata Black huckleberry Photo: CC BY, Jaime McGuiganViola cucullata Viola cucullata Marsh blue violet Photo: CC0, author not statedViola lanceolata Viola lanceolata Bog white violet Photo: CC BY, Sam TurnerDryopteris marginalis Dryopteris marginalis Marginal wood fern Photo: CC BY, Ben ReddingLycopodium obscurum Lycopodium obscurum Lycopodiaceae Photo: CC BY, homeredwardprice

Other Platanthera 10 in the reference

Platanthera bifolia Platanthera bifolia Lesser butterfly-orchid Photo: CC BY, Oleksandr ShynderPlatanthera blephariglottis Platanthera blephariglottis White fringed orchid Photo: CC BY, Andrew ConboyPlatanthera chapmanii Platanthera chapmanii Chapman's fringed orchid Photo: CC BY, William JonesPlatanthera chlorantha Platanthera chlorantha Greater butterfly-orchid Photo: CC0, author not statedPlatanthera ciliaris Platanthera ciliaris Yellow fringed orchid Photo: CC0, author not statedPlatanthera dilatata Platanthera dilatata White bog orchid Photo: CC BY, Matt BergerPlatanthera elegans Platanthera elegans Elegant rein orchid Photo: CC BY, Karen (with occasional help from Mike)Platanthera fuscescens Platanthera fuscescens Asian platanthera Photo: CC BY, Roman A. Lagazyuk (Роман А. Лагазюк)Platanthera hologlottis Platanthera hologlottis Lobeless Platanthera Photo: CC BY, Francisca WuPlatanthera peramoena Platanthera peramoena Purple fringeless orchid Photo: CC BY, Tom Field

Names & registers

Also known as Blephariglotis lacera; Blephariglottis lacera; Blephariglottis lacera f. elongata; Fimbriella lacera; Habenaria lacera and 3 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Orchidaceae
Described by
(Michx.) G.Don
Native to
Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland +38
Wild records
1842 in range · 592 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 18 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (12 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 5 at a herbarium, 1 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 41.00_-76.250, lapse-corrected -25 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 61 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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