Details, details
In a comment an hour ago on this morning’s post about a Great Plains ladies’ tresses orchid (Spiranthes magnicamporum), Dianne requested a closeup. Okay, I’m easy. Here’s a zoomed-in look at a picture I took yesterday of one of these orchids alone. Actually not alone, as I discovered when I looked at the enlargement: in the upper left corner of the picture you’ll find a crab spider whose body probably wasn’t more than one-eighth of an inch (3mm) long.
Now that’s a really wonderful close-up! Thanks for sharing.
Pit
October 22, 2017 at 12:05 PM
You’re welcome. I’m glad Dianne requested a closeup. I sometimes wonder how many things are still hidden in pictures I haven’t looked at closely enough.
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 12:21 PM
Same here.
Pit
October 22, 2017 at 12:23 PM
Statistically speaking, I’d say it’s highly likely some of those hidden things will remain hidden forever.
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 12:27 PM
🙂
Pit
October 22, 2017 at 2:52 PM
🕷 (I borrowed the character from two commenters down.)
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 5:46 PM
Isn’t it fun to find those insects hidden away? I went back and looked at my clutch of ladies’ tresses photos from last spring, and discovered a few insects among them, including a syrphid fly called Pseudodoros clavatus and a carpenter bee. I’d forgotten that I have some photos of the orchids in bud and going to seed, too. Every stage is a delight.
With your first photo, I didn’t catch that this is a different species from any I’ve seen here. In my “orchid field” I’ve identified S. longilabris and S. vernalis. There are two other species that I’m not sure about: S. praecox and S. tuberosa, which might actually be S. lacera.
I suspect what I saw in Arkansas was fragrant ladies’ tresses. So many orchids, so little time!
shoreacres
October 22, 2017 at 1:16 PM
Look at all the species of Spiranthes we have in the United States, even beyond the bunch you’ve mentioned:
http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Spiranthes
I don’t know how to tell them apart. I originally assumed, based on Enquist, that the species I was seeing in Austin is S. cernua, but Bill Carr told me otherwise. Let’s hear it for experts.
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 5:44 PM
It’s amazing how many species there are. I’ve resisted joining the hand lens brigade, but it does seem that with these plants small differences in the shape of the flower and its color (yellow stripe? plain white? green and yellow?) are important identifiers. I’m keeping my eye out for a used copy of the Liggio’s book. An aquaintance loaned me her copy for a week, but that wasn’t nearly long enough to do much more than drool over the photos.
shoreacres
October 22, 2017 at 10:23 PM
Too bad the University of Texas Press let the Liggios’ book go out of print. I bought a copy at the Wildflower Center when the book was new and Joe Liggio was there to autograph copies. At
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=liggio&tn=wild+orchids&kn=&isbn=
I see a used copy in very good condition for $8.98 from Better World Books in Reno, Nevada, with free shipping.
Steve Schwartzman
October 23, 2017 at 6:14 AM
Silly me, to have forgotten Abe Books. At that price, I bought two, and now I have a nice item to take to our NPSOT chapter potluck and gift exchange in December.
shoreacres
October 23, 2017 at 8:32 AM
“Double your pleasure, double your fun….”
Steve Schwartzman
October 23, 2017 at 8:41 AM
Such lovely, delicate petals. Thanks! The tiny 🕷 is a nice feature, too.
Dianne
October 22, 2017 at 1:16 PM
You’re welcome. I like the 🕷 character you found.
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 5:45 PM
Beautiful Steve, both the previous image and this one. Love the tiny spider!
composerinthegarden
October 22, 2017 at 6:35 PM
This is one of the joys of fall in Austin.
Have you composed any orchid music? Any spider music?
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 7:56 PM
Spider music? Will this do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ek95wga4Xs&list=PLbNu__-2y4h_NOcHUb-Vl8AQ4a9dkcWkn Maybe not quite rural enough.
Gallivanta
October 23, 2017 at 6:03 AM
Not till your reference did it ever occur to me to look up the origin of that song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsy_Bitsy_Spider
Apparently it’s anonymous.
Steve Schwartzman
October 23, 2017 at 6:58 AM
And until I read your link I didn’t know it was in a publication in the US in 1910.
Gallivanta
October 23, 2017 at 7:03 AM
I’m still impressed with how easily we can find things out on the Internet. Even wrong things, alas.
Steve Schwartzman
October 23, 2017 at 7:11 AM
Beautiful, Steve. Thank you for accommodating the request.
Jenny
October 22, 2017 at 8:16 PM
You’re welcome. I aim to please, and what better way than with a closeup of a native orchid?
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2017 at 8:51 PM
Delicate details; some of the edges look like crepe (material).
Gallivanta
October 23, 2017 at 6:06 AM
I can see how you’d see that. I saw thin ice.
Steve Schwartzman
October 23, 2017 at 6:59 AM
Fabulous Steve .. and I just spotted the tiny spider 🙂
Julie@frogpondfarm
October 26, 2017 at 1:49 PM
It’s pretty inconspicuous up there in the corner, so a viewer could be forgiven for not immediately spotting it. In contrast, not seeing the orchid would difficult.
Steve Schwartzman
October 26, 2017 at 1:52 PM
[…] What would autumn in Austin be if I didn’t show you at least one picture of prairie agalinis (Agalinis heterophylla)? This October 21st portrait is from the same property in my hilly northwestern part of Austin where I found a ladies’ tresses orchid. […]
Time for prairie agalinis | Portraits of Wildflowers
October 30, 2017 at 4:42 AM