Epipactis gigantea |
Orchidaceae tribe Neottieae |
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chatterbox, giant helleborine, stream orchid |
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Habit | Plants to 1.4 m, essentially glabrous. | |
Leaves | 4–14, ovate, ovate-elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, 5–20 × 2–7 cm. |
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Inflorescences | lax racemes; floral bracts lanceolate to oblong, 7–127 mm. |
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Flowers | 2–32, rather showy; sepals greenish to rose-colored with rose-colored to purple veins; lateral sepals 16–24 × 8–9 mm, apex very oblique; petals pale pink to rose-colored to orange with red or purple veins, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 13–17 × 6–8 mm; lip marked with red or purple, strongly veined, distinctly 3-lobed, constricted at middle into 2 parts, proximal part papillose, calli red, minute, warty, lateral lobes prominent subtriangular wings, distal part linear-oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate-oblanceolate, grooved to tip, 14–20 mm, calli near base, erect, orange or yellow, winglike; column erect, short, stout, with pair of lateral processes, 5–10 × 3 mm; anther green; pollinia 2 pairs, yellow, soft. |
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Capsules | ellipsoid, glabrate or sparsely pubescent, 20–25 mm. |
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2n | = 40. |
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Epipactis gigantea |
Orchidaceae tribe Neottieae |
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Phenology | Flowering throughout summer (Mar–Aug). | |
Habitat | Wet gravelly and sandy stream shores and bars, may occur in riparian willow, box elder, and river birch woodlands or in chaparral, seepages, marshes, wet cliffs, hot springs | |
Elevation | 0–3000 m (0–9800 ft) | |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; BC; Mexico; Asia (China, India, s Japan, Tibet)
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Discussion | Two very distinct color forms of this species have been published: Epipactis gigantea forma rubrifolia P. M. Brown, with deep red stems and leaves, and E. gigantea forma citrina P. M. Brown, with lemon-yellow flowers. Both are known from California. The occurrence of this wide-ranging species in India and Tibet is based on Epipactis royaleana Lindley ex Royle being given as a synonym in a study of the Monocotyledoneae of Karakorum (W. B. Dickoré 1995) and an embryologic study (S. P. Vij et al. 1999). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 585. | FNA vol. 26. |
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae > Epipactis | Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Amesia gigantea, Helleborine gigantea | |
Name authority | Douglas ex Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 202, plate 202. (1839) | Lindley: Coll. Bot., App. 1826 |
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