Garden Helleborine

Growth Habit

Garden helleborine is a perennial herbaceous plant that typically grows about 9.8 to 31.5 inches (25 to 80 cm) tall. Plants are sparsely to densely hairy. Flowers light pinkish-greenish color in somewhat one-sided inflorescence, blooming summer to early fall, then forming capsules with tiny seeds.

Leaves

Leaves clasping stem, alternate arrangement, elliptic (oval to narrow oval) to lance shape in outline, 1.5 to 7 inches long by 0.6 to 3.3 inches wide  (4 to 18 cm long by 1.5 to 8.5 cm wide).

Flowers

Inflorescence of many flowers, somewhat one-sided in arrangement. Each flower has three light greenish sepals and three petals. The top two petals egg-shaped in outline (ovate), 0.4 inches long (9 to 11 mm), and varying in color from light greenish, pinkish, purple or yellowish. The third (lower) petal with a different shape, called a labellum or lip, the base concave and purple to brownish and then towards the tip it is recurved, pinkish, triangular to egg-shaped, and flat. Under (subtending) each flower is a small lance-shaped to linear, leaf-like bract that is longer than the flower.

Fruit & Seeds

Capsule, egg-shaped, attached at the narrower end, 0.4 to 0.6 inches (9 to 14 mm) long, fairly hairless to hairy.

Habitat

So far Epipactis helleborine has been found in western WA, in forested areas to open disturbed locations like roadsides as well as in ornamental plantings. Herbarium records can be viewed on the UW Herbarium website here.

Spread Mechanisms

Reproduction

By seeds and by roots.

Mechanical