# 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'.

- **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.

## About

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.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/e906b253-1cbb-4710-81f9-67c420828f8a
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/50719
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyera oblongifolia
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/256054648/medium.jpg (Ayotte, Gilles, 1948-, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

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