Introductory
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



ABBREVIATION : 
GOOREP

SYNONYMS : 
   Peramium ophiodes
   Goodyera ophoides
   Goodyera repens var. ophiodes


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   GORE2


COMMON NAMES : 
   northern rattlesnake plantain
   lesser rattlesnake plantain
   creeping rattlesnake plant
   dwarf rattlesnake plantain


TAXONOMY : 
The current scientific name of northern rattlesnake plantain is Goodyera
repens (L.) R. Br. [9].


LIFE FORM : 
Forb

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
Rattlesnake plantain is rare in Montana.  Populations are sparsely
scattered [14].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Tara Y. Williams, June 1990


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Williams, T. Y.  1990.  Goodyera repens. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain is transcontinental in Canada [12].  Its
northern limits begin in Alaska, the Yukon, and Newfoundland, and it
stretches south to British Columbia, New Mexico, South Dakota,
Tennessee, and North Carolina [7,8].

Occurrence in Glacier National Park:  along the north side of Upper
Kinta Lake [13].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES25  Larch


STATES : 
     AK  CO  CT  ID  MA  ME  MI  MN  MT  NC
     ND  NH  NM  OH  TN  VA  VT  WY  AB  BC
     MB  NB  NS  NF  ON  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  BLRI  CUVA  GLAC  GRSM  ISRO
     LACL  PIRO  SLBE  VOYA  WRST  YUCH


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce - fir forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    12  Black spruce
    35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
   107  White spruce
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce - paper birch
   204  Black spruce
   212  Western larch
   251  White spruce - aspen
   253  Black spruce - white spruce
   254  Black spruce - paper birch


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain is a shade-loving species found in cool,
coniferous forests, usually with a mossy understory [3,8,18].  It is not
a community dominant and has not been listed as an indicator species.

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
NO-ENTRY


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain appears to be very sensitive to
disturbance.  The species was one of just a few plant species to drop
out of a community in Alaska after logging and was still not present two
growing seasons after the disturbance [3].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain is a native, perennial orchid.  It grows 3
to 14 inches (7-35 cm) tall.  The deciduous, green and white-mottled
leaves are 0.4 to 0.8 inch (1-2 cm) long, and the fruit is a capsule,
not quite 0.5 inch (1 cm) long.  The plant has thick, fiberous rhizomes
[7,8,18].

The flowers grow on a one-sided raceme, 1 to 3.5 inches (2-9 cm) long.
The perfect, zygomorphic flowers are white to pale green and only 4 to 5
mm long [7,18].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain reproduces sexually by seed and
vegetatively by rhizomes [7,18].  Seeds require a mycorrhizal endophytic
fungus, (Ceratobasidium cornigerum) or (Rhizoctonia
goodyearae-repentis), to develop in the wild.  Noninfected plants will
grow in the laboratory if provided with sugar, but both nutrient uptake
and growth are more rapid in plants that are infected.  If a fungicide
is present, these rates decrease.  Mature plants seem to be independent
of the mycorrhizal relationship [1].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain is found in cool, shady, moist coniferous
forests with a mossy component to the understory [3,8,18].  In Glacier
National Park, it is found in a mossy, open western larch (Larix
occidenatalis) forest at 4,400 feet (1340 m) [13].  In Colorado, it is
found at elevations of 8,000 to 9,500 feet (2700 to 3200 m) [7].

Other common associates of northern rattlesnake plantain are paper birch
(Betula papyrifera), prickly rose (Rosa acicularis), mountain cranberry
(Vaccinium vitis-idaea), bluejoint reedgrass (Calamogrostis canadensis),
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), northern twinflower (Linneae borealis),
panicle bluebells (Mertensia paniculata), and feathermoss (Hyloconium
splendens) [3,4,12,15].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Climax Species

Northern rattlesnake plantain is a late-seral or climax species.  It is
normally found in stands 95 to 350 years in age [3,4].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain flowers in late July and early August in
Montana [8,13].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
NO-ENTRY

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain is killed by fire.  It has rhizomes, but
these apparently do not survive burning [10,20].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
In Alaska, northern rattlesnake plantain had not reappeared by 2 years
after clearcutting with a prescribed fire [3].  In a Minnesota study,
during 5 years of monitoring plant biomass after a fire, only one
northern rattlesnake plantain specimen was observed (3 years after the
burn) [17].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Northern rattlesnake plantain appears to be a fire-sensitive species.
It prefers the shade of older forests and does not reinvade areas that
have been opened up by fire [3].

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain 



REFERENCES : 

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       of Goodyera repens and its control by fungicide. New Phytologist. 97:
       391-400.  [11496]

 .  Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
       reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
       associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
       U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. 
       [434]

 .  Dyrness, C. T.; Viereck, L. A.; Foote, M. J.; Zasada, J. C. 1988. The
       effect on vegetation and soil temperature of logging flood-plain white
       spruce. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-392. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 45 p. 
       [7471]

 .  Eriksson, Ove. 1988. Variation in growth rate in shoot populations of
       the clonal dwarf shrub Linnaea borealis. Holarctic Ecology. 11(4):
       259-266.  [9648]

 .  Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
       Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p.  [905]

 .  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

 .  Harrington, H. D. 1964. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 2d ed.
       Chicago: The Swallow Press Inc. 666 p.  [6851]

 .  Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1969. Vascular
       plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 1: Vascular cryptograms,
       gymnosperms, and monocotyledons. Seattle, WA: University of Washington
       Press. 914 p.  [1169]

 .  Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of
       the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume
       II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North
       Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie
       Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p.  [6954]

.  Krefting, Laurits W.; Ahlgren, Clifford E. 1974. Small mammals and
       vegetation changes after fire in a mixed conifer-hardwood forest.
       Ecology. 55: 1391-1398.  [9874]

.  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
       American Geographical Society. 77 p.  [1384]

.  La Roi, George H. 1967. Ecological studies in the boreal spruce-fir
       forests of the North American taiga. I. Analysis of the vascular flora.
       Ecological Monographs. 37(3): 229-253.  [8864]

.  Lesica, Peter. 1984. Rare vascular plants of Glacier National Park,
       Montana. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, Department of Botany. 27
       p.  [12049]

.  Lesica, P.; Moore, G.; Peterson, K. M.; Rumely, J. H. (Montana Rare
       Plant Project). 1984. Vascular plants of limited distribution in
       Montana. Monograph No. 2. Montana Academy of Sciences, Supplement to the
       Proceedings, Volume 43. Bozman, MT: Montana State University, Montana
       Academy of Sciences. 61 p.  [11656]

.  Lutz, H. J. 1953. The effects of forest fires on the vegetation of
       interior Alaska. Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
       Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 36 p. 
       [7076]

.  Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
       Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
       Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p.  [20090]

.  Ohmann, Lewis F.; Grigal, David F. 1966. Some individual plant biomass
       values from northeastern Minnesota. NC-227. St. Paul, MN: U.S.
       Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest
       Experiment Station. 2 p.  [8151]

.  Radford, Albert E.; Ahles, Harry E.; Bell, C. Ritchie. 1968. Manual of
       the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of
       North Carolina Press. 1183 p.  [7606]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Sidhu, S. S. 1973. Early effects of burning and logging in
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       minor vegetation. Inf. Rep. PS-X-47. Chalk River, ON: Canadian Forestry
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Related categories for Species: Goodyera repens | Northern Rattlesnake Plantain