Platanthera stricta
canyon bog orchid, needle-spur green orchid, slender bog orchid
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Alberta, Montana, and Wyoming.

Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps and coniferous forests, low to mid-elevations.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Self-pollination, flies

Description:
General:

Herbaceous perennials, 18-100 cm tall, erect to slightly decumbent, somewhat succulent; stems not angled; roots fasciculate, slender and tuberous, fleshy.

Leaves:

Leaves few to several, abruptly spreading or occasionally ascending, dispersed along stem and becoming reduced to bracts towards inflorescence; blades folded slightly lengthwise, oblong to ovate to linear-lanceolate, 3-32 mm long and 1-4.5 cm broad.

Flowers:

Inflorescence sparsely- or densely-flowered spike; flowers resupinate, light yellowish green to light green, not showy; lateral sepals spreading to curving backward; petals ovate-falcate to lance-falcate, margins entire; labellum bent downward or extending forward, linear to lanceolate, basal thickening absent, 3-9 mm long and 1-3 mm broad or less; spur distinctly club-shaped, capitate inflated or pouch-shaped, 2-6 mm, apex obtuse; rostellum lobes parallel to convergent, directed downward, minute, rounded, not easily seen; pollinaria 2, not curved; pollinia 2, remaining within anther sacs; viscidia free, orbiculate; stigma entire; ovary slender to stout, generally 5-10 mm.

Fruits:

Capsules ellipsoid to cylindric.

Accepted Name:
Platanthera stricta Lindl.
Publication: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl. 288. 1835.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Habenaria borealis Cham. var. viridiflora Cham.
Habenaria saccata Greene [HC]
Habenaria stricta (Lindl.) Rydb., homonym (illegitimate)
Limnorchis stricta (Lindl.) Rydb.
Platanthera gracilis Lindl. [KZ99]
Platanthera hyperborea (L.) Lindl. var. viridiflora (Cham.) Luer
Platanthera saccata (Greene) Hultén
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Platanthera stricta in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database.

WA Flora Checklist: Platanthera stricta checklist entry.

OregonFlora: Platanthera stricta information.

E-Flora BC: Platanthera stricta atlas page.

CalPhotos: Platanthera stricta photos.

USDA Plants: Platanthera stricta information.

60 photographs:
Group by