General: Perennial herb from fleshy, cylindrical or globe-shaped corms; stems 5-20 cm tall, smooth but with 2 to 4 sheathing bracts.
Leaves: Single basal, long-stalked, blades elliptical or heart- to egg-shaped, smooth, 3-6.5 cm long, stalks 1-6 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence a single, showy, terminal flower, the flowers variegated with purple, pink, and yellow; sepals and lateral petals alike, magenta with 3 darker veins, narrowly lanceolate, 12-25 mm long; lip slipper-shaped, nodding, pouched, yellowish-purple to reddish-purple, variously spotted or streaked with darker purple, 15-25 mm long, the lower portion with apron, hairy above; hood-like column purplish, 8-11 mm long, widely egg-shaped, arched over pouch.
Fruits: Capsules, erect, ellipsoid, 2-3 cm long.
Notes: Two varieties are found in BC
1. Bristlelike hairs on lips sparse, whitish; lip apron white, mottled or irregularly blotched with purple................... var. occidentalis (Holzinger) Boivin
1. Bristlelike hairs on lips numerous, yellow; lip apron yellowish................ var. americana (R.Br.) Luer
Dry to moist, mossy forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; var. occidentalis - common W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; var. americana - common E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; circumpolar; var. occidentalis - N to AK and YT and S to ID and CA, Eurasia; var. americana - N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, VT, MI, WI, MN, SD, NM and AZ.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
A shade-tolerant/intolerant, submontane to montane, circumpolar forb (transcontinental in North America). Occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils within montane boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Rare to occasional (locally abundant on eastern Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands) in mossy forest understories on water-shedding sites; its occurrence increases with increasing continentality. Characteristic of coniferous forests.
