Goodyera pubescens
| Goodyera pubescens | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Evergreen | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Late Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Goodyera pubescens (common name: downy rattlesnake plantain)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow, preferably as soon as it is ripe, in the greenhouse and do not allow the compost to dry out. The seed of this species is extremely simple, it has a minute embryo surrounded by a single layer of protective cells. It contains very little food reserves and depends upon a symbiotic relationship with a species of soil-dwelling fungus. The fungal hyphae invade the seed and enter the cells of the embryo. The orchid soon begins to digest the fungal tissue and this acts as a food supply for the plant until it is able to obtain nutrients from decaying material in the soil[1]. It is best to use some of the soil that is growing around established plants in order to introduce the fungus, or to sow the seed around a plant of the same species and allow the seedlings to grow on until they are large enough to move.
Cultivation: Requires a somewhat shady site and a well-drained compost of peat, leafmold and sand[2]. Does well in the woodland garden[3][4].
Orchids are, in general, shallow-rooting plants of well-drained low-fertility soils. Their symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil allows them to obtain sufficient nutrients and be able to compete successfully with other plants. They are very sensitive to the addition of fertilizers or fungicides since these can harm the symbiotic fungus and thus kill the orchid[4].
This species is closely related to the British native species, G. repens[4].
This plant is too rare in the wild to be harvested[5].
Range: Eastern N. America - Maine to Florida, west to Alberta and Quebec.
Habitat: A rare plant of woodlands[5]. Dry woods[6].
Medicinal: A tea made from the roots is used in the treatment of pleurisy and snakebites[5].
A tea made from the leaves is taken to improve the appetite, as a treatment for colds, kidney ailments, rheumatism and toothaches[5][7]. Externally, a poultice of the wilted leaves is used to cool burns, treat skin ulcers and relieve rheumatic joints[5][7]. An ooze from the plant (this probably means the sap or the juice of the bulb[K]) has been used as eye drops to treat sore eyes[7].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Grey, Charles. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate, 1938.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cribb, Phillip and Christopher Bailes. Hardy Orchids. Christopher Helm, 1989.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.