Orchidaceae
Platanthera

Platanthera bifolia (L.) Rich.

First published in De Orchid. Eur.: 35 (1817)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Europe to Siberia, Medit. to Mongolia. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

General Description

Tubers 2, more or less conical, attenuate at apex. Plant 25-50 cm. Foliage-leaves 2, 7-16 x 2.5-8 cm, basal, subopposite, oblanceolate-oblong to obovate or broadly elliptical. Cauline leaves 2-5; lamina usually 1-3 cm, occasionally larger but always much narrower than that of basal leaves. Spike up to 20 cm; flowers white, slightly tinged with green, fragrant. Perianth-segments of the galea 5-7 mm; outer lateral segments 8-10 mm. Labellum 8- 12 mm, linear-oblong, pendent. Spur 25-30 mm, slender, subulate, more or less horizontal, much longer than ovary. Anther-cells parallel, almost contiguous.

Distribution

Almost throughout Europe, but rarer in the Mediterranean region.

Habitat

Open woods, meadows and damp heaths.

[O-EM]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Orchideae: e-monocot.org

    • All Rights Reserved