The Purple Twayblade is a flowering, perennial wildflower in the orchid family and native to Canada and the northern United States. While not common, it is native to North Carolina. It consists of a pair of basal leaves and a thin, reddish flowering stalk topped by a raceme of 5 to 30 brownish purple flowers The stout stem is hairless. The flowers are 3/4 to 1 inch across, each having 3 sepals and 3 petals on a short reproductive column. Two drooping lateral petals are pale purple in color and have a threadlike shape. The third petal is the lip of the flowers and is pale purple with faint purple veins. The genus name is from the greek, liparos, meaning fat or shining alluding to the greasy-looking leaves. Purple Twayblade does best in partial sun to light shade with moist to dry well-drained soil. However, this orchid adapts to many soil types, including rich loam, sandy loam, glacial till, and thin rocky soil with a slightly acid pH. To germinate and grow, this plant's seeds require the presence of a strain of Rhizoctonia/Tulasnella fungus found across its range. The basal leaves are browsed by both White-Tailed Deer and the Cottontail Rabbit. Purple Twayblade can be found growing in moist forests, floodplains, and is common in North Carolina mountains, uncommon in the Piedmont, and rare in the Coastal Plain. It spreads through seeds transported by the wind. The root system is a bulbous corm with fibrous roots. A new corm develops adjacent to the old corm, from which future flowers and leaves are produced. Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems: It is listed as a vulnerable species in North Carolina and is not recommended for the home landscape.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Fills a similar nicheCalopogon tuberosus var. tuberosusDactylorhiza viridis var. virescensPlatanthera flava
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand; Shallow Rocky
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Texture
Coarse
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Ovate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Rubbery; Smooth
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The two green, shiny, smooth, oval-shaped basal leaves are slightly succulent, 3 to 6 inches long and one-half as much across and glabrous. The lower side of each basal leaf has a slight ridge, like the keel of a boat.
Flower color
Brown/Copper; Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Flowers bloom in the late spring through early summer. An erect raceme 4 to 10 inches tall bears 5 to 30 flowers. The central stem of the raceme is light green, hairless, and stout. Individual flowers ¾ to 1 inch across, consist of 3 sepals, 3 petals, and a short reproductive column. Each sepal a ½ inch long, greenish white, and linear in shape. The 2 lateral petals are a ½ inch long, pale purple, filiform (worm-like) in shape, and drooping. The lower petal is a ½ inch long, pale purple, obovate in shape with faint purple veins, and either flat or gently curved. The blooming period lasts 3 to 4 weeks for a colony of plants. The flowers bloom from the bottom of the raceme to its apex.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Fertilized flowers produce seed capsules about ½ inch long. Individual capsules are erect on their pedicels; they are ellipsoid with several longitudinal veins. They split open to release numerous tiny seeds, which are distributed by the wind.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
The light green central stem is hairless.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Canada, northeastern and north central United States.
Distribution
Along the eastern coast of North America from Hudson Bay south to Georgia and west to Oklahoma and Michigan.