#goodyera

[botaniqueer]

Visited my family in Oregon!! It’s also the first time in like a decade that I got to walk to nature trails again, and with much more appreciation for the vegetation! I really like how coastal vegetation looks. It’s kind of weathered and scraggly, but in a very aesthetic way. I def need to visit west Seattle more so I can see my friend the Pacific Ocean more often.

— A native crabapple! I didn’t realize they had weird elongated fruits like this. (Malus fusca)

— A native terrestrial orchid. They’re very cute and I love them a lot. (Goodyera oblongifolia)

— Sea thrift! A coastal aster. (Armeria maritma)

— A species of huckleberry. And of course I ate some. (Vaccinium ovata)

— Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)

— A fern party. (Polypodium californicum)

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

*DJ Khaled voice* Another one!

This is Goodyera pubescens, another common summer-blooming native orchid, also known as Downy Rattlesnake Plantain.

[photo-biont]

Pass Lake, May 5, 2024

[morimotmot]

Nature Journal page 1 - Western Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia)

[conspectusargosy]

Goodyera pubescens, the downy rattlesnake plantain, is a spreading orchid that grows mostly in the leaf litter of woodland floors. The common name refers to the fluffy flower stalk and blooms, and the scale-like venation on the leaves. Though mostly lacking the metallic component in the leaves, this plant still belongs to group of plants called Jewel Orchids due to the showy leaves. Though native to the eastern United States and parts of Canada, this plant grows well for me in California which has its own harder-to-find species of Goodyera (Goodyera oblongifolia). I grow this with some other well-known eastern orchids such as Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid) and Aplectrum hyemale (putty root orchid.)

[vandaliatraveler]

A hike in Appalachia’s summer woods revolves around four basic themes: fungi, ferns, berries, and small woodland orchids. After the canopy closes, fungi and ferns dominate the forest floor, where very little light gets through. However, a few ambitious flowering plants generate just enough energy to bloom, among them: small green woodland orchid (Platanthera clavellata), also known as little club spur bog orchid; and downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens), whose stunning, reticulated leaf pattern is impossible to miss among the brown leaf matter. Berry-producing plants, such as lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), provide much-needed sustenance for wildlife this time of year. And higher up in the canopy, the clustered, drooping, bell-shaped flowers of sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) perform an acrobatic display, a prelude to the fiery scarlet foliage that follows in the autumn. All photos taken at Coopers Rock State Forest.

[cedar-glade]

A break from the fen posts for a minute for some back cove glam in the Copperas creek district

Red River Gorge can have some dramatically humid ravines, so much so that the humidity even gets to a pretty tough field camera.

These aren’t the best shots; but, still stoked on the size of the population. This entire mound was caked in rosettes, about thirty or so of this beautiful and common terrestrial orchid.

Goodyera pubescence  

Downy rattlesnake plantain. 

[orchid-grower]

Wild Goodyera orchid found in Oregon State Park