Pale Grass Pink is a native perennial orchid found in moist areas such as bogs, pinelands, and meadows and is known to flower abundantly after disturbances such as wildfires. It is found in the coastal areas from Virginia to Florida and west to Louisiana, including the sandhills and coastal plains of North Carolina. This unusual plant produces several pink or white non-resupinate flowers and grass-like basal leaves. The flowers of this orchid have the lip on the upper part of the bloom as a way to trick bees in for pollination. The blooming period is long and Pale Grass Pink flowers later than other species of Calopogon, with the exception of C. tuberosus. Pale Grass Pink grow from a globose or elongated corm (a short vertical underground stem). There is 1 or rarely 2 linear, grass-like leaves. Flowers appear in racemes with 3 to 20 flowers per raceme approximately ½ inch apart on the raceme. Flowers open sequentially from the base to apex of the raceme with 1-3 flowers open at any one time. The 1 inch flowers are the smallest of any Grass Pink species. Flower color ranges from pale pink or purple through white. The flowers are slightly fragrant. This is our smallest flowered species of Grass Pink. It also flowers later than other species, and for a longer period of time. As with all native orchids, you should not dig or pick them. This plant is not recommended for the home landscape and is, perhaps, best left in its native habitat to enjoy. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known pests or diseases.
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.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Wet
NC region
Coastal
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Grass-like basal leaves, veined, but not needle-like or scale-like.
Flower color
Pink; White
Flower value
Fragrant; Long Bloom Season; Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Lipped
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Flowers bloom May-July and are white to pink in color. The orchid type bloom has the lip on the top rather than the bottom of the bloom. It is distinguished by its widely spaced 1 inch flowers in a long spike, one to three flowers opening simultaneously, lateral sepals and petals entire to barely obpandurate and falcate.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
The fruit is a capsule with many dust-like seed. Fruits are available July-August.