checkered rattlesnake plantain
Goodyera tesselata
The common name 'rattlesnake plantain' comes from the checkered, snakeskin-like pattern on its leaves, which early herbalists mistakenly believed could cure venomous bites.
- Scientific name
- Goodyera tesselata
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Asparagales › Orchidaceae › Goodyera
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Coniferous and mixed forests, often growing in damp, mossy soils beneath hemlocks, pines, and birches.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic, supplemented heavily by nutrients absorbed via symbiotic soil fungi.
- Range
- Northeastern United States, Great Lakes Region, Eastern Canada
- Size
- Rosette 5-15 cm wide; flowering stalk 15-35 cm tall
- Lifespan
- 10-20 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Forest fragmentation, logging, deer overbrowsing, and illegal collection by wild plant poachers.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. This delicate orchid is entirely safe to observe from a close distance. Do not step on the rosettes or attempt to transplant the plant, as it relies on highly specific underground fungal networks and will quickly perish if removed from its habitat.
Goodyera tesselata is a plant in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), called by the common name checkered rattlesnake plantain . It is native to eastern Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland, and to the northeastern United States from Maine to Maryland, west to Minnesota .
Photo: Ken-ichi Ueda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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