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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE ORCHID FAMILY | |||||||||
| The orchid family is easily recognizable
because of the unique structures of the flower. There are usually three
sepals and three petals, similar to other petaloid monocots; however, the
sepals often look like the two side petals. The middle petal is called the
labellum or lip and is usually highly modified. The lip can be pouch-like,
have appendages or be coloured differently than the rest of the perianth.
The stamens, style, and stigma are fused together to form the column. There
is usually one functional anther with two pollen sacs that contain masses
of pollen called pollinia. The stigma is usually a sticky surface at the
tip or beak of the column. The ovary is long and can be seen below the sepals
and petals. Orchid flowers can be very bright and large, which makes them popular ornamental plants. This family is well represented in the tropics. Saskatchewan has several orchid species, most of which are quite small. |
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| NORTHERN LISTERA | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Listera borealis | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Northern listera grows to 25 cm tall from fibrous roots. The stem is slightly four angled and somewhat fleshy. There are two elliptic to oval, opposite leaves inserted near the middle of the stem. The leaves are green to dark bluish-green. There are five to 20 flowers in unbranched clusters at the ends of the stem. The inflorescence stalk and the flowers stalks are usually glandular-hairy. The sepals and petals are greenish or yellowish with dark green veins. Both the sepals and the petals are reflexed. The lip is slightly narrowed in the centre and is shallowly notched. The column is 2 to 3 mm long. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Northern listera grows in wet spruce woods. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern and central Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland, Boreal Transition, and Mid-Boreal Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Northern listera is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. It is only somewhat restricted but is almost always locally sparse. Possible threats include by occurrences in heavily populated areas, fragile habitats, or areas of planned developments. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY NORTHERN LISTERA | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves elliptic to oval? * Are the sepals and petals greenish? * Is the lip notched at the tip? * Did you find in central or southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found northern listera! | |||||||||
