Marsh Ladies'-tresses
Spiranthes odorata
Found in swamps and marshes, floodplain forests, often emergent from ponded water at the time of flowering in Taxodium and Nyssa swamps. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- September to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 49 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Spiranthes
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
4BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Spiranthes
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “September to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Fragrant Ladies Tresses; Marsh Ladies Tresses; Marsh Ladies' tresses; Spiranthes cernua var. odorata
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications