Goodyera repens (Lesser Rattlesnake Plantain) - photos and description
Origin: Native.
General: Woodland orchid with slender stems and a basal rosette of leaves. Rhizomatous, often found in patches of many plants.
Flowers: Flowers grow in spikes, are white, the lip is tapered to a point, the lateral petals and dorsal sepal form a hood over the sip. The lateral sepals are spreading. We measured a spike at 5 cm long. and a flower at only 5 mm long. The flowers are glandular hairy.
Leaves: Leaves mostly basal, are strikingly mottled white on green, elliptical to ovate, small, measured at 20 mm long and 9 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 30 cm, we measured plants to 16 cm.
Habitat: Cool coniferous forest.
Abundance: I've found the plant to be occasional / uncommon, ranked as common (S5) by SKCDC.
When and where photographed: Photos taken July 16th, and August 3rd, boreal forest, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 300 km north east of Regina, SK, and on August 8th Hudson Bay district about 450 km northeast of our home in Regina, SK.