Platanthera aquilonis |
Platanthera praeclara |
|
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eagle rein orchid, north wind bog-orchid, northern bog orchid, northern green bog orchid, northern green orchid, northern green rein orchid, Sheviak's bog orchid |
Great Plains white fringe orchid, western prairie fringe orchid |
|
Habit | Plants 5–60 cm. | Plants 38–85 cm. |
Leaves | few–several, ascending to arcuate-spreading, scattered along stem, gradually reduced to bracts distally; blade oblong to linear-lanceolate, 2.7–23 × 0.4–4 cm. |
several to many, ascending, scattered along stem, imperceptibly reduced to bracts distally; blade lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, to 26 × 5 cm. |
Spikes | lax to very dense. |
lax. |
Flowers | resupinate, not showy, yellowish green with dull yellowish lip, or more whitish green under cool conditions; lateral sepals spreading to reflexed; petals rhombic-ovate- to lance-falcate, margins entire; lip descending, projecting, or apex adhering to dorsal sepal and petal apices, rhombic-lanceolate to lanceolate, without basal thickening, 2.5–6 × 1–1.5 mm, base not rounded-dilated, margins entire; spur clavate or sometimes rather cylindric, 2–5 mm, apex usually broadly obtuse; rostellum lobes divergent, directed downward, very small, rounded, obscure; pollinaria straight; pollinia rotating forward and/or fragmenting, loose pollen masses free of anther sacs and trailing downward onto stigma; viscidia orbiculate; ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 5–13 mm. |
resupinate, showy, creamy white; lateral sepals somewhat porrect; petals flabellate, truncate, sometimes emarginate, apically lacerate; lip descending, deeply 3-lobed, without basal thickening, 17–32 × 20–39 mm, distal margins of lobes deeply incised and fringed, lateral lobes flabellate, sometimes broadly and overlapping middle lobe, middle lobe flabellate, sometimes very broadly, emarginate; spur slenderly clavate, 36–55 mm; rostellum lobes directed strongly forward, wide-spreading, angular; pollinaria geniculate; pollinia directed forward (column appearing hooded), remaining enclosed in anther sacs; viscidia orbiculate; ovary slender, mostly 20–30 mm. |
2n | = 42. |
= 42. |
Platanthera aquilonis |
Platanthera praeclara |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering (May–)Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Wet meadows, tundra, marshes, fens, stream banks, shores, ditches, seeping slopes, roadsides, borrow pits, mesic deciduous forest slopes | Mesic to wet prairies |
Elevation | 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft) | 200–800(–1600 m) (700–2600(–5200 ft)) |
Distribution |
AK; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT
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IA; KS; MN; MO; ND; NE; OK; SD; WY; MB
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Discussion | Flowers of Platanthera aquilonis are usually scentless, but in the far northwest they have a sweet, pungent scent, like that of some related species. The flowers are commonly self-pollinating: the pollinia rotate forward and downward, contacting the stigma, and/or the pollen masses dissociate and are deposited on the stigma as if they had sifted downward. Platanthera aquilonis is a North American diploid species long confused with the tetraploid Icelandic P. hyperborea (Linnaeus) Lindley. Flowers of both species autopollinate, although the details of the mechanisms may differ. The two species differ in column structure and lip and viscidium shape. True P. hyperborea is similar to P. huronensis, and the relationship of these two species needs further study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. In Platanthera praeclara the wide-spreading rostellum lobes separate the viscidia by 6–7.5 mm, whereas in P. leucophaea the short rostellum lobes are more nearly parallel, and the viscidia are separated only by about 1–3.5 mm. These differences are immediately obvious on living material, but the measurements are nearly always impossible in herbarium specimens. In Wyoming Platanthera praeclara is known from a single, much higher station outside the usual range. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 560. | FNA vol. 26, p. 566. |
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Habenaria leucophaea var. praeclara | |
Name authority | Sheviak: Lindleyana 14: 193, figs. 1–5. (1999) | Sheviak & M. L. Bowles: Rhodora 88: 278, figs. 1a–d, 2–4. (1986) |
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