Western Rattlesnake Plantain

Goodyera oblongifolia

Its common name comes from the snakeskin-like pattern on its leaves, which early settlers believed could cure rattlesnake bites under the 'Doctrine of Signatures'.

Scientific name

Goodyera oblongifolia

Taxonomy

Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Asparagales › Orchidaceae › Goodyera

IUCN Red List status

Least Concern

Population trend

stable

Biome

forest

Habitat

Deep, shaded coniferous and mixed forests with thick leaf litter, moss, and decaying wood.

Diet

Autotrophic (photosynthesis), supplemented heavily by nutrients absorbed via underground mycorrhizal fungi.

Range

North America, Western United States, Canada, Great Lakes Region

Size

Leaf rosettes span 5-15 cm wide; the central flowering stalk reaches 15-45 cm in height.

Lifespan

Individual leaf rosettes live for several years before flowering once and dying, but the clonal rhizome colony can survive for decades.

Active

diurnal

Threats

Habitat loss from logging, urban development, and illegal poaching by wild plant collectors.

Safe to approach?

This plant is completely harmless. You can safely observe and photograph it from the trail. Do not step on, pick, or attempt to transplant it; wild orchids rely on delicate, localized underground fungal networks and will not survive relocation.

Goodyera oblongifolia is a species of orchid known by the common names western rattlesnake plantain and giant rattlesnake plantain . It is native to much of North America, particularly in the mountains of the western United States and Canada, from Alaska to northern Mexico, as well as in the Great Lakes region, Maine, Quebec and the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

Photo: Ayotte, Gilles, 1948-, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist

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