Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid
(Platanthera leucophaea)
 

The eastern prairie fringed orchid is a federally threatened species.
Threatened species are animals and plants that are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.

If you look hard enough, you can find the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid in open bogs, moist, grassy plains and marsh-meadow zones of the Midwest.

The eastern prairie fringed orchid was originally found in abundance in prairies all across the Midwest, New England, and New Jersey. 

However, due to habitat loss, as of 1990, there were less than 60 known sites in the U.S.. The orchid was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Association as threatened on September 28, 1989.

Presently the only populations of the eastern prairie fringed orchid are found scattered throughout Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Maine, with the highest concentrations in Wisconsin.

At present there are two sites in Iowa known to have orchids.

Equipment used to capture this image:
Camera: Nikon F4s
Lens: Nikor 105mm 2.8 Micro
Tripod: Gitzo 320 
Film: Fuji Velvia