Eaton's Ladies'-tresses
Spiranthes eatonii
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in pine savannas, dry to moist pine flatwoods, somewhat moist longleaf pine sandhills. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 20 inches
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- February to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 1 Louisiana parish.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · 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 or green
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “February to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White or green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 20 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Eaton's Ladies' tresses
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3Q |
| LA 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
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana occurrence source
- 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