lesser rattlesnake plantain
Goodyera repens
The common name 'rattlesnake plantain' refers to the white, net-like veins on its leaves, which resemble snake skin. Early settlers mistakenly believed it could cure venomous snakebites.
- Scientific name
- Goodyera repens
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Asparagales › Orchidaceae › Goodyera
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Damp, mossy floors of mature coniferous and mixed forests, particularly under pine, spruce, and fir canopies.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (produces sugars from sunlight) supplemented by organic nutrients absorbed from soil fungi.
- Range
- North America, Europe, Northern Asia
- Size
- Flowering stalk reaches 10 to 30 cm tall; evergreen leaves are 1 to 4 cm in length.
- Lifespan
- Perennial; individual leaf rosettes live for 2-4 years, while the clonal rhizome colony can survive for decades.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Logging, clear-cutting, forest fragmentation, and the removal of old-growth coniferous canopies which destroys their microclimate.
- Safe to approach?
- This plant is entirely harmless. If encountered, admire its intricate leaves and white flowers without stepping on the surrounding moss. Never attempt to transplant or pick this orchid, as it relies on a delicate underground fungal network and will not survive relocation.
Goodyera repens , an orchid in the genus Goodyera , is called by the common name creeping lady's-tresses in Anglophone Europe and dwarf rattlesnake plantain or lesser rattlesnake plantain in North America.
Photo: Norma Malinowski, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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