Species: Epipactis gigantea

Giant Helleborine

Species

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Giant Helleborine is a large perennial herb with leafy stems that are 30-100 cm tall and which arise from short rhizomes. The leaves are without petioles and up to 20 cm long; the lower are ovate, while the upper are lance-shaped. The herbage is rough to the touch or smooth and glabrous. The numerous flowers are borne singly in a long, narrow, leafy-bracted inflorescence located at the tops of the stems. The lance-shaped sepals are green with brownish stripes and approximately 15 mm long. The upper two petals are shorter and broader than the sepals. The lower petal is sac-like and longer and more reddish than the sepals. The nodding capsule is elliptic and bears many thousands of tiny seeds.

Source: Encyclopedia of Life

Classification

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Anthophyta

Class

Monocotyledoneae

Order

Orchidales

Family

Orchidaceae

Genus

Epipactis

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152197

Classification

Other Global Common Names

stream orchid - épipactis géant

Informal Taxonomy

Plants, Vascular - Flowering Plants - Orchid Family

Formal Taxonomy

Plantae - Anthophyta - Monocotyledoneae - Orchidales - Orchidaceae - Epipactis - The only native member of its genus in United States and Canada (Brunton 1986).There is a variant of Epipactis gigantea native to California that has wine-red leaves.

Ecology and Life History

Source: Encyclopedia of Life

Short General Description

Epipactis gigantea is a tall perennial orchid that grows from creeping rhizomes. The one or more stems are 30 to100cm tall and are essentially hairless until the inflorescence, when they become pubescent. There are usually ten or more green leaves per plant, that alternate up the stem. Each leaf is 5-11 cm wide and up to 25 cm long. The lower leaves are ovate and sessile while the upper leaves are linear-lanceolate. The foliage dies back in the fall. After the foliage turns brown, the new shoots begin to spread away from the rhizome. The inflorescence is composed of 3 to 12 rather showy, greenish-yellow (with purple veining) to brownish purple, flowers (after Cronquist et al, 1977). It flowers from April through early August.

Ecology Comments

Epipactis gigantea must have a permanent and constant source of water at the roots. It is easy to cultivate as long as a wet habitat can be provided (Cronquist et al, 1977). In the northern part of its range, it prefers hot springs. One of the known pollinators is the Syrphid fly (Coleman, 1995). E. gigantea seeds are probably dispersed by wind, and possibly by water (Dressler 1981). Seeds of E. gigantea probably require the presence of a mycorrhizal symbiont for germination (Prendergast 1994) In addition to seeds, this species reproduces asexually by underground rhizome, and can sever the connection between the daughter ramet and the parental plant within one season (Thornhill, 1996).

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2006-12-01

Global Status Last Changed

2006-12-01

Other Status

SC - Special Concern - 1998-04-01

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

<i>Epipactis gigantea</i> grows from southern British Columbia in Canada to northern Mexico and eastwards in the United States to South Dakota and Texas. There has also been at least one collection made in central Mexico (San Luis Potosi).

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152197