Distribution

Description

Flowering	late spring to summer.
Height	10-130 cm.
Inflorescence	spike.
Leaves	few to many; blade linear to oblong.
Flowers	white, resupinate; lip and sepal margins entire; strongly fragrant, clove like.
Spur	club like to terete.
Rostellum	lobes oriented downward.

 

 

Described hybrids

Hybrid	Second Parent
?	P.huronensis
?	P.purpurascens

Habitat

Seepy areas, meadows, tundra, fens and wet roadside ditches.

Conservation and Wetland Status

Threatened and Endangered Status

State	Status
Connecticut	Special concern
Indiana	Endangered
Massachusetts	Threatened
New York	Exploitably Vulnerable
Pennsylvania	Endangered

Wetland Indicator Status  

Facultative Wetland +, Facultative Wetland

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Ethnobotany

• Root juices used to treat kidney stones.
• Plant used as a poison.
• Plant added to sweatbath to treat rheumatism, sore muscles and joints.
• Infusion of  plant used as a body wash after sweat bath.
• Used to clean guns as hunting medicine.
• Used in washing by women, as love medicine. 
• Used in wash by young men to make them "lucky, good looking and sweet smelling."

Synonyms

Orchis dilatata Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 588. 1814; Habenaria dilatata (Pursh) Hooker;

  Limnorchis dilatata (Pursh) Rydberg

Chromosome number

2n = 42

Author and publication information for name

Platanthera dilatata (Pursh) Lindl. ex L. C. Beck, Bot. North. Middle States. 347. 1833.

Vernacular name

Scent Bottle

Clove Orchid

Link to Interactive Platanthera key

http://utc.usu.edu/keys/Platanthera/Platanthera.html

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References

C. J. Sheviak  (2003). Flora of North America, Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales. Vol. 26:496-571. Oxford University Press.

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan-Dearborn at  http://herb.umd.umich.edu./ Accessed primarily in July 2006.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. PLANTS Database. http://plants.usda.gov/index.html. Accessed primarily in July 2006.