Aplectrum hyemale (Muhl. ex Willd.) Torr.

Puttyroot orchid

About plant names...

This is a truly odd plant. It isn’t deciduous: it doesn’t lose its leaves in the winter. Neither is it evergreen, keeping them all year around. Instead, it has a single leaf at ground level that emerges in the fall and persists until spring. The leaf is “wintergreen,” and the species name, hyemale, means “winter.” No other plant does this. (Putty root is not related to wintergreen—“wintergreen” literally means “stays green through the winter,” not “tasty flavor.”) Roots of this plant were crushed to produce a gluelike fluid, used variously to mend items and for medicinal purposes—this is the origin of the name “putty root.” Plants are quite rare, and tend to be scattered.

Plants: Represented by a single dark bluish-green leaf in the winter, in summer, the plant’s single stem reaches 5-9" (13-24 cm) in height, with several more opposite leaves and a single spike of flowers.

Leaves: Leaves are oval, 3½-8" (8.9-20 cm) long, with smooth edges and sharp tips, with many prominent, roughly parallel veins.

Flowers: The flower spike (raceme) contains 6 to 10 flowers, each ⅜-½" (1-1.4 cm) long × ¹/₁₆-⅛" (2-4 mm) wide. Purplish-green flowers have starlike petals and sepals and three central white-purple lobes. (Flowers may also be yellow or white, with a purplish tinge.) Flowering is from late May to the end of June.

Fruits: Seed pods are elliptical in shape, ¾-1" (1.9-2.5 cm) long, shiny green in color, with narrow ridges. The pods taper to a point at both ends, and contain a large number of tiny seeds.

Online References:

Aplectrum hyemale at the Orchids of Wisconsin

Aplectrum hyemale on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Aplectrum hyemale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Aplectrum hyemale at Lucas Land: The Wildflowers of Highland and Bath Counties, Virginia

Aplectrum hyemale on

Aplectrum hyemale on eFloras

7/23/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 6 × 7" (15 × 18 cm)

8/9/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area
≈ 7 × 10" (18 × 25 cm)

8/5/2019 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Wildflower Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 4½ × 5" (12 × 12 cm)

8/5/2019 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Wildflower Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 4 × 5" (10 × 13 cm)

7/23/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 5 × 7" (13 × 17 cm)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 15 cm)

7/2/2019 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Mass­a­chu­setts

7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm)

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 15 cm)

8/9/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area
≈ 6 × 9" (15 × 22 cm)

8/5/2019 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Wildflower Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 3½ × ⅜" (9.5 × 1.2 cm)

Aplectrum hyemale description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 18 Jul 2020.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

7/18/2020 · Woodward Point Preserve, Brunswick, Maine
≈ 3½ × 4½" (9.3 × 12 cm)

7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 27 cm)

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 4½ × 6" (12 × 15 cm)

7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 8" (13 × 19 cm)

7/2/2017 · Wildlife Pond, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 7 × 7" (16 × 17 cm)

7/23/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 6 × 8" (15 × 19 cm)

8/9/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area
≈ 7 × 8" (16 × 21 cm)

7/2/2019 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Mass­a­chu­setts

7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Penn­syl­vania
≈ 4 × 6" (10.0 × 14 cm)

7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 6 × 9" (14 × 22 cm)

8/9/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 28 cm)

7/18/2020 · Woodward Point Preserve, Brunswick, Maine
≈ 4½ × 7" (12 × 18 cm)

Range: Zones 3-8:

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