Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz
helleborine (broadleaf helleborine)
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
helleborine (broadleaf helleborine)
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from rhizomes and thickened roots; stems 40-100 cm tall, leafy.
Leaves:
Stem leaves lanceolate to egg-shaped, 6-10 cm long, ribbed, gradually reduced upward and downward.
Flowers:
Inflorescence terminal, somewhat 1-sided, of several showy flowers, the bracts linear to narrowly lanceolate; sepals green, purple-tinged, especially on outside, lanceolate to egg-shaped, 10-13 mm long, the lower sepals spreading to descending; lateral petals similar to sepals, 8-11 mm long, ascending or curved forward; lip 10-12 mm long, lower half pouchlike, white to pinkish outside, brown to purplish inside, upper half more or less flat, white to pinkish, with 2 thick bumps near base; column 3-5 mm long, curved over lip.
Fruits:
Capsules, ellipsoid, spreading to drooping, 1-1.5 cm long.
Notes:
The pure white forma monotropoides (Mousley) Scoggan, previously known only from PQ (Scoggan 1978), was recently collected in the Victoria area.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Epipactis helleborine
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)
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)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
|||
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
9 | 9 | 9 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
45 | 45 | 45 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 5 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
1 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to dry waste places, forests and fields in the lowland zone; infrequent in SW BC; introduced from Europe.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Epipactis latifolia (L.) All.
Serapias helleborine L.
Similar Species
Epipactis helleborine is a distinctive species which is only likely to be mistaken in the wild for the native Epipactis gigantea. A number of key characteristics separate these two species. The flowers of E. gigantea are large, the sepals and petals are 12-20 mm long, and the lips are 14-20 mm long and grooved to the tip (Douglas et al. 2001). The flowers of E. helleborine are smaller, the sepals and petals are 8-13 mm long, and the lips are 10-12 mm long and more or less flat above the middle (Douglas et al. 2001). Modifed from text by the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre, Species and Ecosysems Explorer, 2010.
|