Tipularia discolor near Greenport, L.I. NY
The Crane-Fly Orchis is a hard species to look at and really see. Most orchids are symmetrical in that they can be folded over a line running from top to bottom and all parts will match. Tipularia is assymetrical, meaning it isn't a balanced shape. An eye expecting to see an even flower can't find balance points, so it can be hard to find the normal reference points, often resulting in flowers that just look a bit 'wrong'.