Platanthera aquilonis
Platanthera purpurascens
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
purple-petal bog orchid
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.
few–several, abruptly diverging or sometimes ascending, scattered along stem;
blade oblong to ovate or lanceolate, 5.5–16(–28) × 1–4.5 cm.
lax to very dense.
very lax to dense, flowers sometimes irregularly grouped in fascicles.
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, not showy, green to yellowish green, often suffused with blue or lip sometimes with red;
lateral sepals spreading to reflexed;
petals ovate- to lance-falcate, margins entire;
lip descending to somewhat reflexed or projecting, lanceolate to ovate, sometimes with prominent suborbiculate basal dilation, without basal thickening, 4–8 × 1.5–3 mm;
spur strongly clavate to scrotiform, 2–3 mm, apex obtuse;
rostellum lobes strongly diverging, very small, rounded, obscure;
pollinaria straight;
pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;
viscidia orbiculate to oblong;
ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 5–9 mm.
= 42.
= 42 [63].
Platanthera aquilonis
Platanthera purpurascens
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.)
Flowers of Platanthera purpurascens are strongly semen scented, and their musty scent is markedly different than the sweet and spicy scents of other fragrant species.
In some areas this species hybridizes with Platanthera dilatata var. albiflora, producing sweetly fragant plants with lanceolate green lips. At the southern edge of its range, however, it often occurs with similar plants in the absence of another putative parent. The identity of these plants is uncertain. Their rather generalized morphology might mask polyphyletic origins.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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