Platanthera huronensis |
Platanthera flava |
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great lakes rein orchid, green bog orchid, Huron green orchid, Lake Huron bog green orchid, northern green bog-orchid |
northern tubercled bog-orchid, palegreen orchid |
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Habit | Plants 10–100 cm or more. | Plants 13–65 cm. | ||||
Leaves | few–several, ascending, scattered along stem, gradually reduced to bracts distally; blade oblong to linear-lanceolate, 5–30 × 0.6–7 cm. |
(1–)2–3(–4), spreading to ascending, gradually to rather abruptly reduced to bracts distally; blade lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, 5–35 × 1–7 cm. |
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Spikes | very lax to very dense. |
lax to dense. |
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Flowers | 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, inconspicuous, yellowish green; lateral sepals porrect to reflexed; petals oblong-orbiculate to ovate, apex somewhat crenulate; lip descending to commonly reflexed, 2–6 × 1.8–5 mm, base auriculate, with prominent central tubercle, distal margin entire to slightly crenulate; spur cylindric to strongly clavate, 4–8(–11) mm, apex rarely 2-lobed; rostellum lobes mostly parallel to slightly diverging, directed downward, minute, obscure; pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs; viscidia mostly quadrangular, oblong-quadrangular, orbiculate, or broadly asymmetric, commonly canaliculate to nearly cylindric and difficult to assess; ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 8–10 × 2 mm. |
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2n | = 84. |
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Platanthera huronensis |
Platanthera flava |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | |||||
Habitat | Wet meadows, tundra, marshes, fens, stream banks, shores, ditches, seeping slopes, roadsides | |||||
Elevation | 0–3300 m (0–10800 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AK; CO; CT; ID; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OR; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; YT
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e North America
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26. | FNA vol. 26, p. 563. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Orchis huronensis, Habenaria hyperborea var. huronensis, Habenaria ×media, Limnorchis media, P. hyperborea var. huronensis, P. ×media | Orchis flava, Habenaria flava, Perularia scutellata | ||||
Name authority | (Nuttall) Lindley: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl., 288. (1835) | (Linnaeus) Lindley: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl., 293. (1835) | ||||
Web links |