Listera caurina
Encyclopedia
Listera caurina is a species of orchid
known by the common name northwestern twayblade. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska
through the Pacific Northwest
to Wyoming
, where it can be found in moist, dim habitat, such as mountain forest understory. It is a rhizomatous
perennial herb growing erect 10 to 30 centimeters tall. It has one pair of green oval leaves each up to 7 centimeters long near the base of the stem. The inflorescence
is a small raceme
of green or yellow-green flowers. Each has usually 3 lance-shaped sepal
s, 2 similar petals, and one petal known as the lip, which is longer and rounded at the end.
Epidendroideae
In plant systematics Epidendroideae is a subfamily of the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most Epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes, typically with pseudobulbs...
known by the common name northwestern twayblade. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
through the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
to Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, where it can be found in moist, dim habitat, such as mountain forest understory. It is a rhizomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial herb growing erect 10 to 30 centimeters tall. It has one pair of green oval leaves each up to 7 centimeters long near the base of the stem. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a small raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of green or yellow-green flowers. Each has usually 3 lance-shaped sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s, 2 similar petals, and one petal known as the lip, which is longer and rounded at the end.