Orchids in Bud

I am delighted to have found six orchid species on my land so far!

I've talked about the pink lady's-slippers and the early coral-root before.

They're both past bloom now. Four others are in bud.

Two of them are closely related. On the left, checkered rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera tesselata). On the right, downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens)

Note that the downy has pronounced white veins, while the checkered are much more subtle.
  

The downy tend to appear in clusters like this one, while the checkered appear singly.

I have many more downy than checkered, and I notice that a much larger proportion of the downy are budding.

The purple fringed orchids (Platanthera grandiflora) are also in bud. I'm so excited for these! They are one of the more showy orchids I have encountered, especially when there are several together.


Finally, it was with mixed feelings that I found this orchid species on my land for the first time this trip. It is broad leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) - New England's only widespread, non-native orchid. Some even call it invasive.

I have to decide whether to keep them or not. Need to find out more about whether they're really invasive (i.e. harmful) or not.