Snowy Orchis Wild Flowers

Because of its stiffly erect appearance, the Snowy Orchis is also appropriately known as Bog-torch. The narrow pointed leaves grow at the base of the stem, which reaches a height of a foot, sometimes slightly more. The flower petals are smaller than the sepals, and unlike the other species in the genus the lip is not fringed. Snowy Orchis is a southeastern coastal plain plant of swampy meadows and bogs, from New Jersey to Florida and Texas. The flowers appear in August and September.

RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN             

The Rattlesnake Plantains are distinguished by their basal rosette of peculiarly marked leaves, strongly veined and marked with white. Because of this netted pattern they are also known as Lattice-leaf. The leaves sheathe the lower part of the erect leafless flowering stem. In the common Rattlesnake Plantain the stem is six to twelve inches tall, bearing at its summit a loose spiral spike of flowers. The upper sepals are united with the petals to form a hood over the rest of the flower. The saclike lip has a slightly re- curved tip. This is essentially a northeastern species, chiefly found from southeastern Canada to New York and west to Michigan and Wisconsin, with flowers appearing in summer.

DOWNY RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN

This related species can be recognized by its glandular and hairy flowering stalk, growing somewhat taller than the preceding species. The white flowers, tinged with green, form a dense terminal spike. The Downy Rattlesnake Plantain grows in dry woods throughout eastern United States, where its flowers can be found during late summer.