''Isotria'' (fiveleaf orchid) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from the orchid family,

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

Description

''Isotria'' species are small perennial herbs with thin, hairy underground rhizomes. The erect, hollow shoots typically bear five leaves in a whorl, coated slightly bluish, widest above the middle, and pointed at the ends. The terminal inflorescence usually holds one, occasionally two flowers. Flowers are resupinate, with white, greenish, or reddish-brown bracts. The hermaphrodite, zygomorphic, tripartite flowers have three unfused, lanceolate sepals and smaller petals that point forward, forming a flower tube above the column. The free lip is three-lobed with wavy edges and fleshy calluses. The slender white column bears two glands at the base and the stamen at the end, surrounded by column tissue ending in irregular teeth. The stamen is bent down relative to the column axis, with two smooth, broad appendages on the sides, containing loose pollen grains in four pollen chambers (pollina). The upright capsule fruit contains numerous spindle-shaped seeds, approximately 1.2 × 0.2 millimeters in size. Chromosome count is 2n = 18.

Species

The

has two known species, both native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2003). Genera Orchidacearum 3: 1-358. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

References

External links

* * Vanilloideae genera Pogonieae Orchids of North America Orchids of Canada Orchids of the United States {{Vanilloideae-stub