Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Liliopsida -- monocotyledons

Order: Orchidales

Family: Orchidaceae -- orchid

Common Name: western rattlesnake plantain

Species Code: GOOB2

Origin: Native to dry to moist, shady forests of the mountains of western North America from southern Alaska to northern California and in the Rocky Mountains with disjunct populations scattered farther east in glaciated areas.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from extensive rhizomes, 10-15 cm tall, glandular-pubescent; stems with bracts.

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: forest

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU-

Leaves: evergreen, basal, forming a rosette; petioles broad, wing-margined; blades elliptic to ovate, thick, 3-7 cm long, dark green mottled with white or with white stripes along the mid-vein, apex acute.

Mature height: 4-8 inches

Flowers: numerous, borne in a spike-like raceme up to 12 cm long with the flowers mostly secund and often spiraled; flowers 6-10 mm long, pale greenish white, glandular pubescent; upper sepal and lateral petals joined to form a hood covering the lip; lateral sepals free; lip unlobed, swollen and concave at the base, lip not saccate, spur lacking.

Flower color: white

Bloom: July, August

Bloom starts on: late July

Bloom ends on: early August

Fruit: capsule, erect, 1 cm long.

Characteristics:
Same name in St. John 1963, Davis 1953. Peramium decipiens in Piper &Beattie 1914.
Leaves are evergreen.
The plant was once considered a remedy for snakebite and that is the source of the common name.
The most common orchid in the forests of north Idaho (Patterson et al 1985).
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by short rhizomes.
2n=22 (Baldwin et al 2004).
n=15 (University of British Columbia 2003, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993+).
Flowers are perfect.
Diploids only are known.
Native Americans had some medicinal uses for the plants.
Fruit is a capsule.
Self compatible but protandrous. Since many of the plants in a population are clones from rhizomes, geitonogamy is common, but outcrossing can occur. Individual flowers do not pollinate themselves (Ackerman 1975, Ackerman 1977).
Pollinated by bumblebees (Ackerman 1975).
Apomixis probably does not occur (Ackerman 1975).

Sun requirement: shade

Soil moisture: moist

Fire: Susceptible to fire because the rhizomes grow in the duff layer (McLean 1969).

Sowing time: not recommended

Transplant time: not recommended

Seed comments: Native orchids or their seed should never be collected from the wild. Enjoy them where they grow and leave them alone. Seed germination requires the use of special medium and techniques. Seed is dissimilar from seed of most other plants.

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: native upland perennial forb

Propagation:
Seed germination requires the use of special medium and techniques. Seed is dissimilar from seed of most other plants.
They must be grown on special media, germination is equal in light or dark (Arditti et al 1982).
Orchid seeds will not germinate unless in the presence of a mycorrhizae species associated with the plant (Horn 1972, Parish et al 1996).
Orchid seeds lack an endosperm, radicle, and leaf rudiments (Arditti et al 1981).
Native orchids do not do well in cultivation and will persist in the garden for only a few seasons. They should not be collected from the wild (Hitchcock &Cronquist 1973).

Notes: Goodyera oblongifolia is a forest plant and member of the orchid family. It should not be collected. Enjoy it where it grows and leave it alone. Common name is rattlesnake plantain (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Ackerman, James D. 1975. Reproductive Biology of Goodyera oblongifolia (Orchidaceae). Madrono 23:191-198.

Ackerman, J.D. 1977. Biosystematics of the Genus Piperia Rydb. (Orchidaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 75: 245-270.

Arditti, Joseph, Allison P. Oliva, and Justine D. Michaud. 1982. Practical Germination of North American and Related Orchids - II - Goodyera oblongifolia and G. tesselata. American Orchid Society Bulletin 51:394-397.

Arditti, Joseph, Justine D. Michaud, and Allison P. Oliva. 1981. Seed Germination of North American Orchids. I. Native California and Related Species of Calypso, Epipactis, Goodyera, Piperia, and Platanthera. Botanical Gazette 142:442-453.

Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 9/13/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, Iowa. 827 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 7+ vols. New York and Oxford. Oxford University Press. Online at http://www.fna.org/FNA/

Hitchcock, C. Leo, and Arthur Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Univ. of Washington Press. Seattle, WA.

Horn, Elizabeth L. 1972. Wildflowers 1, the Cascades. Touchstone Press. Beaverton, OR.

McLean, Alastair. 1969. Fire Resistance of Forest Species as Influenced by Root Systems. Journal of Range Management 22:120-122.

Parish, Roberta, Ray Coupe, and Dennis Lloyd. 1996. Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing. Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Patterson, Patricia A, Kenneth E. Neiman, and Jonalea R. Tonn. 1985. Field Guide to Forest Plants of Northern Idaho. USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station. General Technical Report INT-180. Ogden, Utah.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company. 296 pp.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. More Palouse Forbs for Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/More_Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

University of British Columbia. 2003. British Columbia Flora. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Online at http://www.bcflora.org/ Accessed 1/1/06.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species description from Flora of North America
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium