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White Rein-orchid
Platanthera dilatata (Pursh) Lindl. ex Beck
Synonym: Habenaria dilatata
Other names: Fragrant White Orchid, Bog-orchid, Bog-candles, Scent-bottle
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Family: Orchidaceae,
Orchids
Genus: Platanthera,
Rein-orchids
Description
General: erect perennial, hairless, 15-100 cm tall, the stem
leafy, from fleshy, tuber-like roots.
 Leaves: alternate, gradually reduced upward, sheathing,
the lower ones from oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, blunt-
tipped or pointed, mostly 4-10 cm long and 1-3 cm broad,
sometimes up to 25 cm long and 5 cm broad, upward on
the stem more pointed.
 Flowers: white to slightly greenish-tinged, very fragrant,
many in a tall, dense spike, 5-30 cm long, with bracts at
bases. Sepals lanceolate, blunt-tipped, mostly 3-nerved,
the upper one broader, hooded, 4-6 mm long, the lower 5-8
mm long, spreading, usually twisted. Petals lanceolate, the
upper ones bent inward, 1- or 2-nerved, equalling or slightly
exceeding the upper sepal and touching it, forming a
distinct hood. Lip 5-8 mm long, 5- to 7-nerved, distinctly
broadened at the base, the tip rounded. Spur slenderly
cylindric to club-shaped, curved, from half to twice as long
as the lip. Pollen sacs only slightly separated.
Flowering time: June-July.
 Fruits: erect, elliptic capsules.
Distribution
Wet, usually more or less boggy ground, in open to shaded
areas, foothills to subalpine zone, in w. and c. parts of MT.
Also from AK to CA, NV, UT, NM, SD, MI, PA, and NY.
 Edible and Medicinal plant, see below. |
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
Edible Uses:
The root of white rein orchid is edible cooked. It is said to taste like frozen potatoes. However, the leaves are considered poisonous.
Medicinal Uses:
The root juice has been mixed with water and drunk in the treatment of gravel by the Northeastern Algonquians.
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