# 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.

- **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.

## About

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 .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/a2a85ca4-d0d1-4a9e-aa56-5a45b6d66425
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/62366
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyera tesselata
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/17229/medium.jpg (Ken-ichi Ueda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.