rattlesnake plantain

Any of various orchids of the genus Goodyera, having mottled or striped leaves and spikes of small whitish flowers.

[From the resemblance of its leaves to a rattlesnake's skin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rattlesnake plantain

(Plants) any of various small temperate and tropical orchids of the genus Goodyera, having mottled or striped leaves and spikes of yellowish-white flowers

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun

rattlesnake plantain - any of several small temperate and tropical orchids having mottled or striped leaves and spikes of small yellowish-white flowers in a twisted raceme

helleborine

orchid, orchidaceous plant - any of numerous plants of the orchid family usually having flowers of unusual shapes and beautiful colors

genus Goodyera, Goodyera - genus of small orchids of the northern hemisphere with creeping rhizomes and stalked ovate leaves and small flowers

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Downy Rattlesnake Plantain has a basal rosette of blue-green leaves with white spider-like veins that stands out on the forest floor.

Wild and beautiful: the wild orchids of Mississippi are rare beauties of the state's wetlands

Lesser-known types include Isotria verticillata, known as the Large Whorled Pogonia; and Goodyera pubescens, the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain.