Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Northern Green Orchid
Platanthera aquilonis
Orchid family (Orchidaceae)

There are a number of green bog orchids and they are very difficult to separate. Adding to the difficulty is the continuing reclassification of these orchids. Some plants are distinguished from each other by the size of the spur at the back of each flower, some on the basis of the lips, some the leaves, etc. The spur of Bog Orchid is about the length of the flower lip; the spur of Short-Spurred Bog Orchid (Platanthera stricta) is much shorter than the lip. Bog Orchid (Platanthera aquilonis) has in the past often been identified as either Limnorchis hyperborea or Habenaria hyperborea, but orchid authority Charles Sheviak indicates that the hyperborea species is found only in Greenland and Iceland. Sheviak placed this species in the Platanthera in 1999. "Platanthera" refers to the flower's "wide ." "Aquilnois" means "of the north."


©Al Schneider

Description

Erect plant, slender to stout, 6-40" tall. Stems leafy throughout, not only near the base, . Leaves variable, , - to , reduced to above, 2 to 14' long and to 1" wide. a densely to laxly flowered from 1+ to 10" long. Flowers small, often fragrant, green or yellow green, with a hood. Petals usually fleshy, 1-2 . Lip fleshy, to , 3-5 , from 1/8 to 1/3" long; spur cylindrical, slender to 1/3" long, usually shorter or almost equal to the lip. erect, .

Field Marks

Tiny spurred green orchid flowers atop tall sturdy stems with long leaves.

© Al Schneider

nerves -- Another name for a vein.

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

The anther is a pad at the end of the stamen that holds the pollen.

ellipsoid -- Shaped like a watermellon. Smaller.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.

elliptic -- Oval, with no point or a very short point.

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.

oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.