Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
69. Orchidaceae, the Orchid Family
1. Coeloglossum Hartman1. Coeloglossum viride (L.) Hartman -- Long-bracted orchid
Plants 2-5 dm tall, glabrous. Leaves elliptic to elliptic-oblanceolate or elliptic-obovate, 4-12 cm long, 1-3(5) cm wide, acute to rounded, reduced in size upward; flowers usually many, ascending, greenish, sometimes tinged with purple, small, not showy; sepals green, 4-6 mm long, the upper sepal broadly ovate and hoodlike, the lateral sepals broadly lanceolate, incurved; petals green, the lateral ones lanceolate, curved upward, shorter than the lateral sepals and nearly hidden by them; lip oblong, 2- or 3-toothed at the tip, the middle tooth shorter than the lateral 2 or obsolete; spur pouchlike, 2-3 mm long, projected forward under the lip; ovary cylindric, 7-11 mm long. Jun--Jul. Wet meadows, seepage areas, moist or wet woods and thickets; occasional in the n and w parts; Habenaria bracteata (Willd.) R.Br.; H. viridis (L.) R.Br.
American plants are longer-bracted than Eurasian and Arctic counterparts
and are distinguished as var. virescens (Muhl. ex Willd.) Luer.
Return to Family -- Orchidaceae - The Orchid Family
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