Goodyera oblongifolia (Rattlesnake Plantain) - photos and description
General: Woodland orchid with slender stems from a basal rosette of leaves. Stems and inflorescence are glandular hairy.
Flowers: Flowers in a terminal spike, white, with the lateral petals and upper sepal forming a hood over the lip; the lateral sepals turning brown when the flower is fully open.
Leaves: Leaves mostly basal, the basal leaves are elliptical to lanceolate, wavy margined, measured at 6 cm long (including petiole) and 2 cm wide. Basal leaves with a prominent mid-rib, some leaves with a network of white veins in addition to the white mid-rib. Stem leaves very small, measured at 3 mm long and 1 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 45 cm, we measured plants to 32 cm tall.
Habitat: Coniferous forest in the Cypress Hills.
Abundance: Very rare, ranked as an Sa (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken August 1st in lodgepole pine forest in the Cypress Hills, 450 km south west of our home in Regina, SK.