Index / Search / Spiranthes cernua

§1 Plant

Spiranthes cernua (L.) Rich.

vernacular nodding lady's tresses — species · Orchidaceae


USDA
SPCE
GBIF
2805420
Rank
species
nodding lady's tresses (Spiranthes cernua)
Platephotograph · naturegal64CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Orchidaceae Juss.
Genus
Spiranthes
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
24–55 in/yr
pH range
4.5–6.5
Root depth
8 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
1.5 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Summer
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
seed, tubers
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SPCE ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2805420 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z