Platanthera stricta Lindl.
slender rein orchid (slender bog orchid)
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Rosemary Taylor     (Photo ID #60575)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Platanthera stricta
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from tuberous, spindle-shaped stem-bases, with a few fibrous roots; stems 35-80 (100) cm tall, stout, leafy.
Leaves:
Lowest oblong-elliptic, 3-10 cm long, over 1/3 as wide, tips rounded to blunt, the other leaves 5-15 cm long, lanceolate, tips pointed, reducing into bracts above, the leaves generally widely diverging from stem.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a slender, open spike, the flowers small, green, usually lightly scented, bracted, the bracts of the lower flowers 2-5 cm long, leaflike, much reduced in upper flowers; lateral sepals 4-6 mm long, broadly lanceolate, thin, 3-veined, spreading, the upper sepal broadly egg-shaped, slightly hooded at tip, 3-5 mm long; petals lanceolate to egg-shaped, fleshy, often purplish-tinged, asymmetric, in close contact with upper sepal, forming a hood; lip narrowly oblong or linear, 5-8 mm long; spur generally much shorter than lip but sometimes nearly as long, inflated, scrotum- or sac-shaped, only slightly, if at all curved; column short and thick, about 2 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules, erect, to 15 mm long.
Notes:
Although spurs of P. stricta are generally much shorter than the lips, many plants from Vancouver Island populations have scrotum-like spurs nearly as long as their linear lips. Occasionally, spurs much longer than the lips are found - such plants probably are hybrids between P. stricta and P. dilatata var. leuchostachys. Plants referred to P. gracilis are included within the range of variation of P. stricta - they are florally similar to slender-spurred extremes of P. stricta and differ only in reduced leaves.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Platanthera stricta

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)
950 1 2099
Slope Gradient (%)
13 0 95

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

143 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
5 1 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
466
Modal BEC Zone Class
CWH

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

AT(4), CWH(167), ESSF(140), ICH(71), IDF(1), IMA(1), MH(53), MS(11), SBPS(1), SBS(7)

Habitat and Range

Moist meadows, coniferous forests, swamps and bogs in the montane zone; common throughout BC south of 55 degrees N, rare northward; N to AK and YT, E to AB and S to SD, NM, AZ and CA.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Habenaria hyperborea var. viridiflora (Cham.) S.L. Welsh
Habenaria saccata Greene
Habenaria stricta (Lindl.) Rydb.
Limnorchis saccata (Greene) A. L÷ve & Simon
Limnorchis stricta (Lindl.) Rydb.
Limnorchis viridiflora (Cham.) Rydb.
Platanthera convallariifolia (Fisch.) Lindl.
Platanthera dilatata var. gracilis Ledeb.
Platanthera hyperborea var. viridiflora (Cham.) Luer
Platanthera saccata (Greene) HultΘn