Liparis loeselii (L.) L.C. Rich.
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Liparis
 
Species Synonyms: none
Common Names: yellow widelip orchid
yellow twayblade
bog twayblade
Loesel’s twayblade
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: southwestern Mackenzie District, southern British Columbia, Saskatchewan – Manitoba – Ontario – Quebec – New Brunswick – Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan: central – southeastern Saskatchewan; La Ronge – Strawberry Lakes
Ecoregion: Moist Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: wet, seepy depressions in meadows, fens, and sloughs
Canada: bogs, peaty meadows, damp thickets, and alluvial shores
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Vulnerable
Nature Conservancy Status:
G5 S1S2
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Liparis loeselii is vulnerable because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. It is found in several localities in the province but is almost always locally sparse. No immediate threats are known but are possible in the future.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 5 – 25 cm
Roots: rhizome short; roots fibrous
Stems: basal pseudobulb ovoid, sheathed by bracts; stem pale or yellowish-green, angled; sheathing bracts few, below leaves
Leaves: 2, to 26 cm long, 1 – 4 cm wide, oblong to lanceolate, green, glossy, succulent
Inflorescence: raceme lax, 2 – 10 cm long, 1 – 12-flowered; bracts minute; pedicels 3 – 5 mm long, slender
Flowers: calyx greenish, yellowish or whitish, dorsal sepal erect, lateral sepals 5 mm long, 2 mm wide; corolla 5 mm long, tubular, filiform, base cuneate and slightly auriculate, greenish or yellowish or whitish; column short, ca. 2 mm long, stout, winged at tip; pollinia yellow
Fruits: capsule obovoid or ellipsoid, erect, veins often slightly winged
 
ORCHIDACEAE KEY FOR GENERA FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
 
1 Plants saprophytic, without chlorophyll, yellowish to brownish; leaves reduced
Corallorhiza
1 Plants not saprophytic, with chlorophyll, green; leaves well developed
2
   
2 Labellum saccate, not spurred
3
2 Labellum not saccate, may be spurred
5
   
3 Leaves several
Cypripedium
3 Leaves solitary to 2
4
 
4 Leaf oval to round
Calypso
4 Leaf linear
Arethusa
 
5 Basal spur on lip
6
5 Basal spur absent
9
 
6 Leaves cauline
7
6 Leaves basal
8
 
7 Pollinia parallel or nearly so; lip unlobed
Platanthera
7 Pollinia divergent; lip notched to three lobed
Coeloglossum
 
8 Labellum white, spotted with purple, calyx and corolla rose
Amerorchis
8 Flowers greenish or white
Habenaria
 
9 Leaves 2
10
9 Leaves 1 – several
11
 
10 Leaves in basal pair
Liparis
10 Leaves in the middle of the stem
Listera
 
11 Flowers greenish; stems swollen at base to pseudobulb
Malaxis
11 Flowers white, cream, yellow or brown, occasionally tinged with green; pseudobulb absent
12
 
12 Leaves reticulate marked, midrib white; flower spike not twisted; woodlands
Goodyera
12 Leaves not reticulate marked, midrib green; flower spike twisted; prairies
Spiranthes