I. SPECIES INFORMATION 



A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC NAME: Goodyera repens (L.) R.Br. 



2. COMMON NAME: rattlesnake plantain. 



3. FAMILY: Orchidaceae (Orchid Family). 



4. GENUS: The genus Goodyera contains about 25 

 species that occur widely in subarctic and 

 temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, and 

 extend south into the tropics in New Caledonia and 

 the Mascarene islands (Hitchcock et a_l. 1969, 

 Willis 1960) . Two species, G. oblongifolia and G. 

 repens . occur in Montana (Dorn 1984) . 



5. SPECIES: Goodyera repens is a circumpolar species 

 occurring throughout northern North America and 

 Eurasia, and was first described from Siberia 

 (Hulten 1968) . The species worldwide contains a 

 complex of subspecific varieties. In Montana, the 

 species is apparently represented by both the var. 

 ophioides , with white-mottled leaves, and var. 

 repens , with uniformly green leaves (Kallunki 

 1990) . 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS: Goodyera repens has recently been 

 submitted for listing as a sensitive species for 

 Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service. It has no 

 status under the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

 Endangered Species Act. 



2. STATE: Goodyera repens has most recently been 

 ranked by the Montana Natural Heritage Program as 

 an S2 species (= 6-20 occurrences) , and is 

 considered imperiled in Montana due to rarity. 



C. DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Goodyera 



repens is a small herbaceous, perennial plant with 

 dark-green, heart-shaped to spear-shaped, basal 

 leaves that are 0.5-1.5 inches long and sometimes 

 have white patterning along the veins. The 

 flowering stems are 4-8 inches tall, with 

 glandular hairs, and a 2-4 inch terminal spike of 

 small white or pale greenish flowers. The flower 

 consists of a curved hood above, two lateral 



