Goodyera oblongifolia (Rattlesnake Plantain) - photos and description
Origin: Native.
General: Woodland orchid with slender stems from a basal rosette of leaves. Stems and inflorescence are glandular hairy.
Flowers:
Flowers grow in a spike
on a stiff stem. Flowers small, I measured a flower at 7 mm long, white,
the lateral petals and dorsal sepal forming a hood over the lip. The
lateral sepals white, but have always turned brown when the flower is
fully open when I have photographed them.
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 S1 (as of 2023) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
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.