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2016 2016 Virginia Wildflower of the Year: Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, W. John Hayden University of Richmond, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation W. John Hayden. 2016 Virginia Wildflower of the Year: Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera Pubescens. Virginia Native Plant Society, 2016.

This Brochure is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Goodyera pubescens Regardless of season, lip, and the remaining and two are fungi that assists the plant in Downy Rattlesnake Plantain crowded together, forming a hoodlike cover over the the acquisition of moisture and ; the ovary is inferior. Fruits are globose to nutrients, while the plant pro- is a delight to encounter in ellipsoid capsules, 6–8 mm in diameter, bearing nu- vides products of its photosyn- the woods of Virginia merous small, dustlike seeds. thesis to feed the fungus. Flowers his evergreen orchid is a perennial rhizoma- are pollinated by bumblebees and Ttous herb of the forest floor. The horizontal other native bee species. Pollina- , usually covered lightly by leaf litter, bear Relationships tion often has a high rate of suc- roots at intervals and terminate in a rosette of leaves. owny Rattlesnake Plantain was first named cess, and many flowers produce Leaves are alternate, somewhat crowded together, DNeottia pubescens, by Willdenow; at the time, mature fruits. Also typical of and only slightly elevated above ground level. Leaf Neottia encompassed orchids now classified in sever- orchids, the seeds of this species blades are ovate, 3–8 cm long, and 1.5–3 cm wide, al different genera. It was Robert Brown who recog- are minute and dustlike, bear- often of varying size within a rosette. Leaves are nized Goodyera as a distinct , and he published ing few nutrients to assist in the present year-round, bluish-green, with prominent the binomial by which we now refer to this species in establishment of new seedlings. white veins; on each leaf, a broad midvein is flanked 1813. The genus name commemorates John Goodyer, Seedling establishment requires by two smaller veins that arise near the base of the a 17th-century English botanist; pubescens refers to assistance from soil fungi, from blade and converge near the apex. Additional fine the downy hairs that are so abundant on the flower which the orchid derives the or- veins complete an irregular network pattern. In sum- stalk. The common name plantain has been applied to ganic molecules it needs until it mer, robust produce an elongate flower stalk, diverse, unrelated plants that have broad, flat leaves, can make its own food via pho- 10–40 cm tall, from the center of the rosette. the word being derived from the Latin word planta, tosynthesis in its leaves. In contrast with the rosette leaves, the inflores- referring to the sole of the foot. Rattlesnake in the cence stem and reduced bracteal leaves are densely common name alludes to a fancied resemblance of the downy. Flower stalks produce 20–80 evenly spaced, prominent reticulated veins to the scaly skin of snakes. In the Garden small white flowers in a dense terminal spike. Each Species of Goodyera can be found throughout owny Rattlesnake Plantain flower, subtended by a narrow bract, is initially more much of the north temperate zone, as well as in Austra- Dis described as easy to grow or less circular in outline, but petals and later lia and on several oceanic islands. Twenty-five would in a woodland garden situation. It diverge, transforming the circle to a roughly triangu- be a conservative estimate of the number of species, requires dappled sunlight, acidic lar outline. As is usual with orchids, there are three globally, in the genus. In addition to G. pubescens, G. soils with organic matter, and a sepals and three petals, one of which is distinctive- repens, Dwarf Rattlesnake Plantain, can be found as layer of mulch to ensure consis- ly modified as a lip. Further, the stigma, style, and, a rare plant in the mountains of Virginia. Goodyera tent soil moisture. Because nurs- in this case, one repens can be distinguished from G. pubescens by a ery-propagated plants of this spe- anther, are com- dark green line in the white midvein, its overall small- cies are available only plexly fused to er stature, and flower placement on just one side of from specialty na- form a central the flower stalk, or flowers forming a spiral. tive-plant nurser- column. Open ies and because flowers of Good- digging from yera are dom- In the Wild the wild cannot i n ated by the owny Rattlesnake Plantain is a plant of be condoned, it saclike lip; two D mesic to dry forests. As is typical of orchids, may be best not to try to sepals flank the the roots have a mycorrhizal relationship with grow it in a garden. Where to See It owny Rattlesnake Plantain can be found Dthroughout Virginia. Moreover, it is widely Downy distributed in eastern , from Maine to Minnesota, and south to eastern Oklahoma, Arkan- sas, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; occur- Rattlesnake rence is spotty in several states of the Midwest. Plantain Goodyera pubescens Goodyera pubescens

Source: Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora, vaplantatlas.org Human Uses thnobotanical references note that Goodyera Gardeners should not collect Downy Rattlesnake Epubescens was used by Native Americans for Plantain in the wild and should be certain that all a wide variety of medicinal purposes, but none of native plants purchased for home gardens have these applications can be recommended in modern been nursery-propagated, not wild-collected. For medical practice. a list of retail sources of nursery-propagated plants and responsibly collected seeds, visit www.vnps .org or send an SASE to the Virginia Native Plant Conservation Society, Blandy Experimental Farm, 400 Blan- he conservation status of Goodyera pubescens dy Farm Lane, Unit 2, Boyce, VA 22620; e-mail 2016 Tis secure at present. Nevertheless, like all native [email protected]; or call 540-837-1600. To see and plants, its populations are subject to habitat alteration. learn more about interesting species of plants na- Virginia Wildflower tive to Virginia, visit www.vnps.org and contact your chapter of VNPS (details on the website) for of the Year the times and dates of programs and wildflower walks in your area.

Text by W. John Hayden Photographs by W. John Hayden and Nicky Staunton Illustration by Nicky Staunton Layout by Nancy Sorrells