A small terrestrial orchid of prairies, savannas and bog edges in the central and southeastern US, with pink, white or purple flowers. It is rare and largely extirpated across its range, so it is not a practical garden plant and is best left in the wild.
Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Grass, Perennial, Orchid
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keeps soil consistently moist during its growing season, though it tolerates wet bog-edge conditions.
Soil
Moist, acidic, sandy or peaty soil, typically in bog and prairie settings.
Temperature
Hardy to cold winters in its native range; grows in temperate climates.
How easy
Hard
Native range
C. & SE. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate
About
Calopogon oklahomensis, commonly known as the Oklahoma grass pink or prairie grass pink, is a terrestrial species of orchid native to the United States. It is restricted to the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. It is extirpated (locally extinct) throughout most of its range. Calopogon oklahomensis is a perennial herb with flowers that are white, pink or purple, with a labellum with an apical region of yellow hairs. Flowers bloom March to July. Its habitats include coastal prairies, savannas, edges of bogs, and oak woodlands. It was described by Douglas H. Goldman in 1995.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calopogon oklahomensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.