User:Choess/Orchid

This page shows how to write a botanical description on Wikipedia without copyright violation. The following text is taken from common field guides to northeastern wildflowers; in addition, links to descriptive text at Flora of North America are provided. It is used to describe the morphology of the woodland orchid Goodyera pubescens.

Newcomb: "Leaves dark green, veined with white...a rosette of distinctively marked, egg-shaped leaves...small-whitish flowers grow in a spike at the top of a bracted stalk...[refers to Goodyera] Flowers in a dense cylindrical spike (neither one-sided nor spiral); leaves 1-2" long, with many fine white veins. 6-20" high."

Clemants & Gracie: "leaves basal, leaves simple, petals irregular...plants 8-16", woolly. Leaves oval or narrowly oval, 1 1/4-2 1/2", usually finely white-reticulate with white stripes along midrib. Flowers on cylindrical spikes, 2 1/2-4" tall; flowers 1/4-3/8"; hood 1/4"; lip 1/8", round."

Peterson: "a checkered leaf pattern created by veins and cross-veins on a dark background. Leaves, broad, in a basal rosette. Flowers in spikelike raceme [refers to Goodyera] ...thick cylindrical arrangement of the flowers. Stem woolly. 6-16 in."

Flora of North America: see Goodyera and Goodyera pubescens

Description

G. pubescens has oval or egg-shaped leaves, 1.25–2.5 inches long, which are distinctively marked with a reticulated pattern of white veins on a dark green background. They may be pointed or rounded at the tip. The leaves form a basal rosette, and are evergreen. The flowers are borne on a woolly, upright stalk (peduncle), 11–35 centimetres tall. There are from 10 to 57 flowers arranged in a spike on each peduncle, equally distributed around all sides, giving it a cylindrical appearance. The individual flowers are 0.25–0.375 inches tall. The lip (labellum) is 0.125 inches long. The upper sepal and petals are fused into a hood, 0.25 inches tall. et cetera