General: Perennial herb from slender rhizomes, with fibrous roots; stems 10-35 cm tall, with 2 leaves, glandular-hairy above.
Leaves: Two, near middle of stem, roughly opposite, elliptic to broadly egg-shaped or nearly circular, 2-7 cm long, 1.5-6 cm wide, smooth, abruptly tapered to base.
Flowers: Inflorescence a many-flowered, terminal raceme, the flowers yellowish-green; sepals 4.5-6 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, 1-veined, distinct; petals similar to sepals but narrower, 4-5 mm long; lip 8-13 mm long, 5-7 mm wide at tip, broadly wedge-shaped, with a shallow notch at tip, base with a short triangular tooth on each side, short-clawed; column 2.5-3.5 mm long.
Fruits: Capsules, spreading, egg-shaped, to 4 mm long.
1. Lips deeply cleft into two linear pointed lobes................L. cordata
1. Lips entire or shallowly cleft into blunt lobes.
2. Lips rectangular or oblong, with rounded lobes at base, without a pair of lateral teeth................L. borealis
2. Lips wedge-shaped, with a pair of lateral teeth, no lobes at base.
3. Ovaries glabrous; lips with a long slender tooth on each side at the base, not hairy-margined...................L. caurina
3. Ovaries slightly glandular-hairy; lips with a short triangular tooth on each side at the base, finely hairy-margined.................L. convallarioides
Source The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat / Range
Moist forests, bogs and streambanks in the montane zone; infrequent in BC south of 54 degrees N, rare in NW BC; amphiberingian, N to AK, E to NF and S to ME, NH, MI, WI, MN, SD, CO, AZ and CA; E Asia.
