Downy rattlesnake plantain | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
Tribe: | Cranichideae |
Genus: | Goodyera |
Species: | G. pubescens
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Binomial name | |
Goodyera pubescens | |
Synonyms[3] | |
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Goodyera pubescens, the downy rattlesnake plantain (also known as Peramium pubescens [4]), is one of the most common orchids native to eastern North America. It is found from Florida to Nova Scotia, west to eastern Oklahoma, Minnesota and Ontario.[3][5]
Goodyera pubescens is an evergreen terrestrial herb with variegated leaves. The variegation is in the form of a densely reticulated network of veins that are a much lighter green than the rest of the leaf tissue. It is a creeping plant that divides on the ground surface and sends out short stolons. It may be terrestrial or, occasionally, epipetric, growing on rock shelves. It prefers mildly to moderately acidic soils, such as in oak-heath forests.[6]