Goodyera pubescens (Downy Rattlesnake Plantain)

Goodyera pubescens

Goodyera pubescens (Willd.) R. Br.

Peramium pubescens (Willd.) MacMill.

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Downy Rattlesnake Orchid

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Liliidae	Includes lilies, orchids, and many others
Order	Asparagales	A diverse group that includes asparagus
Family	Orchidaceae	Orchid family
Genus	Goodyera	Name for botanist John Goodyer
Species	pubescens	With soft, downy hair

About plant names...

Downy rattlesnake plantain is native to eastern North America. The name reflects the snakeskin-like network of silvery white lines that make the leaves resemble the scales of a snake. It prefers dry woods and mildly acidic soils. Technically, these are orchids, not plantains.

Plants: 8-16" (20-40 cm), woolly, evergreen. It spreads via stolons, rootlike runners. It is often nestled in moss.

Leaves: Leaves are basal, rarely more than half an inch above the ground, and oval or narrowly oval, 1¼-2½" (3.2-6.3 cm). They are dark green, with a broad white central stripe and a distinctive network of white veins.

Flowers: On cylindrical spikes, 2½-4" (6.3-10 cm) tall. (The entire plant is up to 16" (40 cm) tall.) Each flower is ¼-⅜" (6.3-9.5 mm) in size. Flowers appear May-September, mostly in late July.

Online References:

Goodyera pubescens on www.plants.usda.gov

Goodyera pubescens on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Goodyera pubescens on the New England Wildflower Society’s GoBotany site

Goodyera pubescens at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

References:

Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 378