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The Goodyera oblongifolia is also known as the Menzies' Rattlesnake Plantain or giant rattlesnake orchis. This orchid is a native to Washington state. The distribution is from the Cascades and coastal mountains from southern Alaska to northern California, northern and central Sierra Nevada and eastern North America. You can find the Menzies' Rattlesnake Plantain along the trail to Comet Falls on Mount Rainier. Goodyera oblongifolia has an interesting history. This plants botanical name is Goodyera oblongifolia. John Goodyer was a 17th century English botanist. While oblongifolia means oblong leaves. The common name Menzies' Rattlesnake Plantain comes from the early settlers. They thought the plant was from the plantain family because it resembled the plantain Plantago major. It was also thought by the settlers that the plants leaves resembled a rattlesnake pattern and had to cure rattlesnake bites. The northwest coast peoples, such as the Saanich, used the plants as good luck charms. Stl'al'imx children used the leaves as balloons by rubbing them until the top layers separated and blowing through the stem to inflate them. The interior plateau peoples used the plant for cuts and sores. The Goodyera oblongifolia gets the name giant rattlesnake orchis from being the largest rattlesnake orchis in North America. The Goodyera oblongifolia is a evergreen perennial with a short creeping rhizome and fibrous roots. The stem is 20 to 45 cm tall, stout, stiff and hairy. The leaves are 3 to 10 cm long, dark green and have a central white stripe or in forma reticulata the leaves are reticulated. Flowers are greenish white in a spiral one sided spike. This plant grows on humus among mosses in dry to moist, shady, coniferous forests. Their symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil allows them to obtain sufficient nutrients. They are very sensitive to the addition of fertilizers or fungicides since these can harm the symbiotic fungus and thus kill the orchid. The Goodyera oblongifolia spreads rapidly by vegetative multiplication. However, please don't dig up native orchids to try to grow them in your garden. They are becoming rare in the wild due to loss of habitat and wild harvesting. They are also quite difficult to transplant successfully from the wild. If you want to grow them in your garden, there are nurseries who grow native orchids from seed who will sell plants to you.
  
 
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