Psychoda-like Povodnik

Family: Orchids. It occurs in meadows, bogs and moist forests in the temperate zones of eastern North America. The species name derives from the generic name of the dipteran insect Psychoda Latr.

Plants 30-90 cm tall. Some roots are considerably thickened. Leaves large, broadly ovate to elliptic or lanceolate, 5-25 cm long and 2.5-6 cm wide. Inflorescence 5-15 cm long and 2.5-4 cm wide. Flowers lilac, less often white, fragrant. The dorsal sepal is narrow; the lateral sepals are wider, oval, obtuse, 0.8 cm long. Petals oblong or obovate-lanceolate, toothed along the upper edge. Lip three-lobed, 0.8-1.2 cm long and the same width; lobes fan-shaped and fringed; the fringe on the median lobe is considerably shorter than on the lateral lobes. Spur 1.7 cm long, sometimes claviform at the tip. Blooms in mid to late summer.