Platanthera huronensis
Platanthera brevifolia
great lakes rein orchid, green bog orchid, Huron green orchid, Lake Huron bog green orchid, northern green bog-orchid
platanthera de hoja corta, short-leaf bog-orchid, shortflower bog orchid
few–several, ascending, scattered along stem, gradually reduced to bracts distally;
blade oblong to linear-lanceolate, 5–30 × 0.6–7 cm.
few, ascending-sheathing, little more than bracts, scarcely reduced distally;
bracts often lacking;
blade ovate to elliptic-ovate, 2.5–6 × 0.7–2 cm.
very lax to very dense.
lax to rather dense.
resupinate, not showy but sometimes conspicuous, whitish green;
corolla often whiter than calyx;
lateral sepals spreading to slightly reflexed;
petals ovate- to lance-falcate, margins entire;
lip descending or apex adhering to dorsal sepal and petal apices, lanceolate to nearly linear, without basal thickening, 5–12 × 2–4 mm, base slightly to rather markedly rounded-dilated, margins entire;
spur slenderly cylindric to clavate, 4–12 mm, apex usually slenderly tapered;
rostellum lobes divergent, directed downward, very small, obscure, rounded;
pollinaria straight;
pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;
viscidia oblong;
ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 6–15 mm.
resupinate, not showy, green to yellowish green;
lateral sepals reflexed or sometimes spreading;
petals ovate- to lance-falcate, margins entire;
lip descending or reflexed, linear to linear-oblong or linear-lanceolate, 6–10(–14) mm, margins entire, often with series of low parallel ridges on adaxial surface;
spur cylindric or tapering toward apex, 9–20 mm, apex usually rather acute;
rostellum lobes somewhat divergent, directed forward, rounded-subangular, rather prominent;
pollinaria straight;
pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;
viscidia orbiculate to broadly elliptic-oblong;
ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 6–12 mm.
= 84.
Platanthera huronensis
Platanthera brevifolia
Northwestern plants commonly treated as Platanthera hyperborea var. viridiflora (Chamisso) Kitamura (note Kitamura’s priority over Luer) are P. huronensis; Chamisso’s name furthermore is synonymous with P. stricta. Aleutian and coastal Alaskan plants are often short, stout, and broad-leaved, and they have incorrectly been referred to 9. P. convallariifolia.
Platanthera huronensis as here delimited does not auto-pollinate in the manner of P. aquilonis. Occasional plants and populations that may be referable to P. huronensis, however, exhibit the movement of pollinia typical of P. aquilonis. These plants might reflect infraspecific variation within an allotetraploid species, result from hybridization, or constitute a distinct taxon. The relationship of some of these plants to P. hyperborea needs study.
Platanthera huronensis is typically intensely fragrant with the sweet, pungent scent of some related species.
Platanthera huronensis is known to hybridize with P. dilatata; it may hybridize with other species as well. Although hybrids of P. dilatata and P. aquilonis may occur, the name traditionally used for them, P. ×media (Rydberg) Luer is a synonym of P. huronensis. See notes under 10. P. aquilonis and 8. P. hyperborea.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The greatly reduced herbage of Platanthera brevifolia is distinctive. Robust plants may lack developed leaves altogether, with merely a few reduced bracts at the base of the stem and an inflorescence comprising nearly the entire height of the plant. A strong mycotrophic mode is suggested by the occurrence in some colonies of truly albino plants without pigmentation.
Platanthera brevifolia largely replaces P. sparsiflora in Mexico and is very distinctive at its northern limit in the United States. Although P. sparsiflora is exceedingly variable in floral dimensions, in habit, and in the number, size, and placement of leaves, the pattern seen in P. brevifolia seems to lie outside this range of variation. With a generally longer spur and very different ecologic requirements, it is here treated at the specific level. Nonetheless, P. brevifolia is reported to intergrade with P. sparsiflora in Mexico (R. McVaugh and W. R. Anderson. 1974+, vol. 16, pp. 254–256), yet the latter species probably does not range there beyond a possible occurrence in Baja California (M. A. Soto 1988).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
Go Botany
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
