When
walking in the winter woods, you may spy an attractive rosette of a
green plant with white veins. This is rattlesnake plantain—quite
a misnomer. Rattlesnake plantain is not a plantain at all, but one of
North Carolina's native orchids, and it doesn't indicate the presence
of rattlesnakes. Its spike of small white flowers blooms May through
September on a woody stalk. The "rattlesnake" in its name may come from
its mottled leaves, suggesting snakeskin. People once believed that
a plant's appearance predicted its use, therefore it was thought to
cure snakebites and scaly skin.
When
walking in the winter woods, you may spy an attractive rosette of a
green plant with white veins. This is rattlesnake plantain—quite
a misnomer. Rattlesnake plantain is not a plantain at all, but one of
North Carolina's native orchids, and it doesn't indicate the presence
of rattlesnakes. Its spike of small white flowers blooms May through
September on a woody stalk. The "rattlesnake" in its name may come from
its mottled leaves, suggesting snakeskin. People once believed that
a plant's appearance predicted its use, therefore it was thought to
cure snakebites and scaly skin.