Platanthera obtusata
Platanthera lacera
blunt-leaf bog-orchid, blunt-leaf rein-orchid, blunt-leafed rein orchid, bluntleaf orchid, northern small bog orchid, one-leaf rein-orchid, small northern bog-orchid
green fringe bog-orchid, green fringe orchid
1(–2, rarely), spreading-ascending on base of stem;
bracts 0(–1, rarely);
blade linear-oblanceolate, elliptic, or broadly obovate, 3.5–15 × 0.8–5 cm.
1–4, wide-spreading to ascending, scattered along stem, gradually to abruptly reduced to bracts distally;
blade linear-lanceolate, linear-oblong, or oblong-obovate, 7–23 × 0.7–5 cm.
lax.
lax to dense.
resupinate, not showy, greenish white to yellowish green;
corolla commonly whiter than calyx;
lateral sepals reflexed;
petals rhombic, lanceolate-falcate, margins entire;
lip descending, linear, narrowly lance-rhombic, or linear-hastate, with median basal thickening, unlobed, 2.5–8(–10) × less than 1–2 mm, margins entire;
spur slenderly conic, 3–8(–10) mm;
rostellum lobes directed forward, wide-spreading, rounded-angular;
pollinaria straight;
pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;
viscidia orbiculate;
ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 3–10 mm.
resupinate, not showy to inconspicuous, whitish green or yellowish green, lip often paler;
lateral sepals reflexed;
petals linear to narrowly oblong-spatulate, margins entire or apex rarely slightly lacerate;
lip descending, without basal thickening, deeply 3-lobed, 10–17 × 13–17 mm, lobes extensively and deeply divided, commonly into filiform divisions, margins rarely merely fringed or middle lobe merely lacerate-fringed, lateral lobes narrowly to broadly cuneate, middle lobe cuneate-flabellate, usually narrow;
spur slenderly to markedly clavate, 11–23 mm;
rostellum lobes nearly parallel, directed downward, short, rounded;
pollinaria nearly straight;
pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;
viscidia linear;
ovary slender to stout, mostly 8–20 mm.
= 42, 63 (American, as Habenaria obtusata), 126 (Eurasian, as Habenaria obtusata).
= 42.
Platanthera obtusata
Platanthera lacera
The rare Eurasian Platanthera obtusata subsp. oligantha (Turczaninow) Hultén differs from the North American subsp. obtusata in its smaller dimensions and rhombic-lanceolate lip. It is also said to be densely few-flowered, although some Siberian material is comparable to American plants. Supposedly intermediate plants are reported from Alaska, and much material from that area is reduced in stature and with smaller flowers than typical of American plants. In most cases, however, lips are relatively slender, and the plants seem merely to be stunted by their environment. One or two collections from the Alaskan Peninsula and Aleutians, however, seem entirely referable to subsp. oligantha with dense, few-flowered inflorescences of very small flowers with rhombic-lanceolate lips and shorter curved spurs. Eurasian plants are reported to be hexaploid or perhaps sometimes triploid, and if the apparent ploidy differences delimit the taxa, then it should be possible to unequivocally identify Alaskan plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Hybrids with Platanthera grandiflora (P. ×keenanii P. M. Brown; see note under 20. P. grandiflora) and P. psycodes [P. ×andrewsii (M. White) Luer] are variably intermediate between the parents, with various purple-green shadings and lobes of the lip generally narrower and more dissected than in the purple-flowered parents. The linear viscidia of P. lacera and the large anther sacs of P. grandiflora provide means for determination. The ratio of viscidium length/width of 1–3.2 distinguishes hybrids and purple-flowered parents from P. lacera, which is characterized by a ratio of 2.7–4.6. The parentage of hybrids can be determined by different sized anther sacs: P. ×andrewsii, 1.4–2.3 mm; P. ×keenanii, 2.5–4.2 mm. Those hybrids can be distinguished from their purple-flowered parents by less intense coloring and the ratio of viscidium length/width: P. psycodes 1–1.5; P. ×andrewsii, 1.3–3; P. grandiflora, 1–1.5; P. ×keenanii, 1.5–3.2. The plants known as Platanthera lacera var. terrae-novae (Fernald) Luer (Habenaria lacera var. terrae-novae Fernald) apparently represent swarms of P. ×andrewsii and introgressed P. lacera (P. M. Catling and V. R. Catling 1994).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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