Florida Native Orchid Photo: Calopogon pallidus

This plant is commonly known as the "Pale Grass Pink". Blooming in the same meadows as its larger cousin, the regular "Grass Pink" (Calopogon tuberosus), and often interbreeding with it, Calopogon pallidus has flowers about an inch across, sometimes fragrant, ranging in color from a medium pink (in line with standard C. tuberosus) to pure white, with the most common color form being a very pale pink with deeper pink gradations.

The plant consists of an underground corm, a very narrow grass-like leaf, and a very slender, wiry spike that bears flowers in succession (sometimes two flowers are open simultaneously, but it's usually one-at-a-time).

They inhabit wet, open meadows and pinelands in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal states, blooming during the month of May in northern Florida. In this area, it is, by far, the most common of the grass pinks.



Note its little "companion", a small winged queen ant that decided to alight on the flower and crawl about.

---Prem

Very pretty, Prem. Thanks for sharing.