Cranefly Orchid
Tipularia discolor
Found in a wide variety of moist to rather dry forests. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- Up to about 2 feet
- Light
- Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 90 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 102 animals.
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
Who uses this plant?
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Brown/copper, yellow or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Brown/copper, yellow or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 [G5] |
| VA 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
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- 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

























