Family: Orchidaceae,
Orchids
Genus: Platanthera
Description
General: erect perennial, hairless, 20-100 cm tall, the stem
leafy, from fleshy, tuber-like roots.
 Leaves: alternate, several, mostly on the lower half of
the stem, narrowly oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, 6-20 cm
long and 1-3 cm broad, blunt to slenderly pointed.
 Flowers: pale to deep greenish, often somewhat
purplish-tinged, many in a tall, dense spike, 5-20 cm long,
with bracts at bases. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, blunt-tipped,
3-nerved, the upper one broader, hooded, 4-7 mm long, the
lower 4-7 mm long, spreading. Petals lanceolate, the upper
ones bent inward, about equalling the upper sepal and
touching it, forming a distinct hood. Lip 4-7 mm long, rather
fleshy, usually thrust forward, the tip rounded. The spur
cylindric to club-shaped, straight to slightly curved, from
shorter to barely longer than the lip. Pollen sacs well
separated.
Flowering time: June-July.
 Fruits: erect, elliptic capsules.
Distribution
Moist to boggy, usually shaded places, foothills to
subalpine zone, in w., c. and ne. parts of MT. Also from
AK to CA, AZ, NM, NE, MN, IN, PA, and NY. |
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