|
Platanthera: Answers
to key questions in Lilies, Irises & Orchids of Saskatchewan by
Vernon L. Harms and Anna L. Leighton leading to this genus. The answers
are in the order you would normally work through the key.
|
Plants
green, with at least some green leaf-blades, these sometimes early
withering or late developing; flowering stems green (pale pink to
purplish-red in Calypso bulbosa), bearing sheathing bracts in
some species; rootstocks not coral-like; capsules spreading to erect
(occasionally drooping when old); NOT [Plants non-green saprophytes
lacking leaf-blades; flowering stems yellowish to purplish-red or brown
(pale greenish-yellow in C. trifid), bearing sheathing bracts;
rhizomes rootless, coral-like in their branching; capsules drooping] |
|
Flowers 3
or more in a spike-like inflorescence, small, often inconspicuous; lip
usually less than 1 cm long, but if longer, neither inflated nor broad
and flat; NOT [Flowers 1 to 2 per stalk (occasionally more in Cypripedium
reginae and C. montanum), large, showy; lip 1 cm long or
longer, either inflated or broad and flat] |
|
Lip
spurred (spur short and bag-like in Coeloglossum viride);
NOT [Lip not spurred] |
|
Lip
yellowish-green (often tinged with red in Coeloglossum) or
white, unmarked, narrower, tongue- or strap-shaped, lacking lateral
lobes; flower stems leafy (except in Platanthera obtusata which
has a single leaf at base of stem, and Platanthera orbiculata,
which has two leaves, both basal) arising from clusters of thick roots;
NOT [Lip white with roseate spots, ovate in outline with a pair of
protruding lateral lobes near base; terminal lobe flared and usually
notched; flower stems naked with a single leaf present at base of stalk
and arising from rhizomes with slender roots] |
|
Lip not
toothed at tip, about the same length as spur; stems leafy or leafless;
floral bracts shorter; flowers greenish, greenish-white, or white;
clusters of roots not palmately arranged; NOT [Lip 2 (3)-toothed at tip,
much longer than the inconspicuous pouch-like spur; stems with up to 5
leaves; floral bracts prominent throughout inflorescence, elongated to
2-4 times flower length on raceme lower portions; flowers greenish to
yellowish-green; clusters of roots palmately-arranged] |
|