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Platanthera flava - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Orchidaceae

Habitat

Boggy or swampy ground and flood plains.

Associates

Distribution

Nova Scotia and southern Quebec to MN, south to FL and TX.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial 30-70 cm; main leaves lance-linear to lanceolate or lance-elliptic, to 20 cm long and 5 cm wide, the upper reduced or bract-like; spike loose or compact, 5-20 cm long and 1.5 cm thick; bracts lance-linear, shorter to much longer than the flowers; flowers sessile, greenish yellow or green, 5-6 mm wide; lip deflexed, 4-6 mm, the margins often irregular or undulate, bearing a conspicuous protuberance on the upper side just below the middle, and usually with a small lateral lobe on each side at the base; spur 3-6 mm.

Notes

Flowers June to August

Wetland indicator: FACW

The plants shown here are the northern var. herbiola (R. Br.) Luer with the lip oblong and obtuse or triangularly acute at the apex, and the inflorescence usually dense, stout, and with floral bracts often exceeding the flowers. The inflorescence of typical P. flava is more slender with the bracts usually shorter than the flowers and the lip broadly ovate or subquadrangular with the apex obtuse or emarginate; it only occurs as far north as VA, southern IN, and southern IL.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Sheviak, C.J. 2002. Platanthera, In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Eds. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 26. Oxford University Press, New York.

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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