Goodyera oblongifolia

western rattlesnake plantain
giant rattlesnake plantain
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Subtribe: Goodyerinae
Genus: Goodyera
Species: G. oblongifolia
Binomial name
Goodyera oblongifolia
Raf.
Synonyms[1]
  • Spiranthes decipiens Hook.
  • Goodyera menziesii Lindl.
  • Orchiodes decipiens (Hook.) Kuntze
  • Peramium menziesii (Lindl.) Morong
  • Peramium decipiens (Hook.) Piper
  • Epipactis decipiens (Hook.) Ames
  • Goodyera decipiens (Hook.) F.T. Hubb.
  • Goodyera oblongifolia var. reticulata B. Boivin
  • Goodyera oblongifolia f. reticulata (B. Boivin) P.M. Br.

Goodyera oblongifolia is a species of orchid known by the common names western rattlesnake plantain and giant rattlesnake plantain. It is native to much of North America, particularly in the mountains of the western United States and Canada, from Alaska to northern Mexico, as well as in the Great Lakes region, Maine, Quebec and the Canadian Maritime Provinces.[1][2][3]

Goodyera oblongifolia is most commonly found in mountain forests, often in the understory of conifers. This orchid forms a patch of broad lance-shaped to oval-shaped leaves at the ground, each 4 to 9 centimeters long. The leaf is dark green and in this species the midrib is streaked with white. The netlike veining on the leaf is also white, but not as thick as the midrib stripes. The plant produces an erect inflorescence up to about 30 centimeters tall. The top of the inflorescence has many white orchid flowers which may all face the same direction on the stalk, or be spirally arranged about it.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Flora of North America, v 26 p 515, Goodyera oblongifolia
  3. ↑ Biota of North America Program, county distribution map
  4. ↑ Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1968. The Pteridophytoa, Gymnospermae and Monocotyledoneae. 1: 1–482. In H. A. Gleason New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 3). New York Botanical Garden, New York
  5. ↑ Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  6. ↑ Cronquist, A.J., A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren & Reveal. 1977. Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. 6: 1–584. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora, Hafner Pub. Co., New York.

External links