Platanthera oreades Franch. & Sav. 1878
Plant and Flowers in situ Japan
Photos by © T.N. and The I naturalist Colombia Website
Collection Sheet by © Hegi and Kew's Plants of the World Website
Common Name The Montane Platanthera
Flower Size .32" [8 mm]
Found in central and southern Japan in shady medium elevation areas as a small sized, cold growing terrestrial with 2, small, tomentose tubers giving rise to a basally sheathed stem carrying a single, in the lower quarter, lanceolate-obtuse to narrowly oblong, attenuate below into the amplexicaul base leaf that blooms in the later spring on an erect, provided with 3 to 8, bract-like, grading smaller above, apressed sheaths, 6 to 12" [15 to 30 cm] long, laxly 8 to 15 flowered inflorescence with erect, lanceolate, multinerved, shorter than the ovary floral bracts.
Compared to P tipulioides which also has a spur that varies greatly in length but P oreades differs mainly in the almost twice as large flower, with P tipuloides flowers barely exceeding .16 to .2" [4 to 5 mm]. The leaves of P tipuloides has consistently longer attenute leaves, more often than not there are 2 , equally developed leaves white in P oreades there is only one leaf with the rest bract-like and grading smaller above.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Enum. Pl. Jap. 2: 514 Franch & Sav. 1878
Enum. Pl. Jap. 2: 514 Franch & Sav. 1878 as P oreades var brachycentron
Fl. Symb. Orient.-Asiat.: 36 Koidz. 1930 as P mandarinorum var oreades
Orchid Flowers 2: 55 M Hiroe 1971 as P mandarinorum f brachycentron
J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, Sect. 3, Bot. 13: 183 Koidz. ex K.Inoue 1982 as P mandarinorum var brachycentron
