Family: Orchidaceae,
Orchids
Genus: Goodyera
Description
General: evergreen, perennial herb, mostly 25-40 cm tall,
stems stiffly erect, glandular-hairy, from short, creeping
rhizomes, sometimes forming colonies.
 Leaves: in basal rosette, the stalks winged and broad,
5-20 mm long, the blades ovate- lanceolate to elliptic-
lanceolate, thickish, mostly 3-7 cm long, dark green but
usually somewhat mottled or striped with white veins,
especially along the midrib.
 Flowers: pale greenish-white, short-hairy, many in a tall,
dense, slender spike, up to 12 cm long, the flowers mostly
on 1 side, almost stalkless, each with a ovate- lanceolate
bract at base, 4-10 mm long. Upper sepal touching the
fused side petals, forming a forward-pointing hood 6-10 mm
long, with a slightly bent up tip. Side sepals free, slightly
shorter than the hood, ovate- lanceolate, bent back at the
tips. Lip small, swollen and concave at base. Flowering
stem softly glandular-hairy, with 2-4 small, membranous,
non-green, sheathing bracts.
Flowering time: July-August.
 Fruits: erect capsules, about 1 cm long.
Distribution
In dry to mossy or damp, open to dense forest, in w. and c.
parts of MT Also from AK, in most of w. U.S. and to
Mexico, and to MI, WI, MN, and ME.
Medicinal plant, see below. |
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