BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Epipactis gigantea | Giant Helleborine 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Giant helleborine is a native, perennial autotrophic forb that grows 1
to 3 feet (30-100 cm) tall.  It has short rhizomes and leaves 2 to 8
inches (5-20 cm) long.  It is sparsely pubescent.  Only two to three
flowers appear on the stalk at a time.  The petals are reddish-brown;
the lower one is saclike.  The sepals are green with brownish veins.
The nodding, elliptic capsule contains thousands of tiny seeds.  The
plants will grow in small or large groups, but most commonly form dense
stands. [2,6,7].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophtye


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Giant helleborine reproduces from microscopic, aerially dispersed seeds.
It will also reproduce vegetatively from rhizome shoots [2].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Giant helleborine grows on open, wet sites, often adjacent to mineral
hot springs, and in mossy and shady areas along rivers, streams,
meadows, seeps, and hanging gardens from warm desert shrub to spruce
communities [15].  It grows on calcareous, porous substrates or thin,
partially decomposed, wet organic substrates. It is more common in the
open than in forests [2,15].

Giant helleborine occurs between 2,900 and 4,100 (885-1,250 m) in
Montana [13], 2,570 and 9,000 feet (830-2,905 m) in Utah [15], 5,500 and
8,000 feet (1,675-2,440 m) in Colorado [6], and at 4,000 feet (1,220 m)
in Wyoming [3].  In California it occurs below 7,500 feet (2,290 m) in
almost all plant communities [9].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Giant helleborine can colonize suitable habitats quickly.  It is a
species of open, early successional habitats.  Apparently, it is a poor
competitor later in succession [2].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
In Canada, giant helleborine flowers in from mid-June to mid-August with
the peak occurring in mid-July [2].  It blooms in April and May in
southern California [4].

Related categories for Species: Epipactis gigantea | Giant Helleborine