Aplectrum hyemale
Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 198. 1818.
Plants 18–50 cm. Leaves persistent, petiolate; blade narrowly to broadly elliptic, prominently and irregularly plicate, 10–20 × 3–8 cm, abaxially usually maroon or greenish purple, adaxially dark green with whitish veins. Inflorescences: floral bracts inconspicuous, 3–7 × 1.5 mm, apex subulate to acuminate. Flowers prominent but inconspicuously colored; sepals spreading, greenish or yellowish suffused with magenta or purple-brown, oblong-oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 10–15 × 1.8–4 mm; petals parallel to column, greenish or yellowish, suffused with magenta or purple-brown, oblong-oblanceolate, 9–13 × 1.8–3.5 mm; lip white with magenta spots, obovate in outline, 9–12 × 7–9 mm, apex 3-lobed, lateral lobes ascending and flanking column, middle lobe broadly expanded, crenate; column 7 × 2 mm. Capsules ellipsoid, strongly ribbed, 15–30 × 7–12 mm.
Phenology: Flowering late spring.
Habitat: Moist, deciduous, upland to swampy forests
Elevation: 0–1200 m
Distribution
Ont., Que., Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.
Discussion
Selected References
None.