Characteristic of dry sandy soil of jack pine plains, often with blueberry and bracken; also under red pine and oak, in moist aspen forests and conifer thickets along shores and dunes, and in thin soil on rocks in the western Upper Peninsula; rarely in moist places. Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis in the south apparently in dry meadows. 

The common plant in Michigan is var. lacera, with spikes loosely flowered and leaves present at anthesis; var. gracilis (Bigelow) Luer has the flowers densely arranged in the spike, and leaves usually absent at flowering time. Variety gracilis is rare in the southernmost part of the Lower Peninsula, and flowers later, from mid-August to early September, whereas S. lacera var. lacera blooms from mid-July to mid-August, and is relatively widespread, especially north of the middle of the Lower Peninsula. Records from the southern half of the Lower Peninsula date from 1838 to 1914.

In late summer and fall, Spiranthes lacera (and S. tuberosa) produce an overwintering rosette of small ovate green leaves that lie virually flat on the ground. These somewhat resemble a Goodyera, but lack any reticulate pattern.