Habenaria obtusata var. collectanea Fernald:
Canada (North America)
United States (North America)

Habenaria obtusata (Banks ex Pursh) Richardson:
Canada (North America)
Colombia (South America)
United States (North America)

Platanthera obtusata (Banks ex Pursh) Lindl.:
China (Asia)
United States (North America)

Lysiella obtusata (Banks ex Pursh) Rydb.:
United States (North America)

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

The rare Eurasian Platanthera obtusata subsp. oligantha (Turczaninow) Hultén differs from the North American subsp. obtusata in its smaller dimensions and rhombic-lanceolate lip. It is also said to be densely few-flowered, although some Siberian material is comparable to American plants. Supposedly intermediate plants are reported from Alaska, and much material from that area is reduced in stature and with smaller flowers than typical of American plants. In most cases, however, lips are relatively slender, and the plants seem merely to be stunted by their environment. One or two collections from the Alaskan Peninsula and Aleutians, however, seem entirely referable to subsp. oligantha with dense, few-flowered inflorescences of very small flowers with rhombic-lanceolate lips and shorter curved spurs. Eurasian plants are reported to be hexaploid or perhaps sometimes triploid, and if the apparent ploidy differences delimit the taxa, then it should be possible to unequivocally identify Alaskan plants.

Plants 5.5–35 cm. Leaves 1(–2, rarely), spreading-ascending on base of stem; bracts 0(–1, rarely); blade linear-oblanceolate, elliptic, or broadly obovate, 3.5–15 × 0.8–5 cm. Spikes lax. Flowers resupinate, not showy, greenish white to yellowish green; corolla commonly whiter than calyx; lateral sepals reflexed; petals rhombic, lanceolate-falcate, margins entire; lip descending, linear, narrowly lance-rhombic, or linear-hastate, with median basal thickening, unlobed, 2.5–8(–10) × less than 1–2 mm, margins entire; spur slenderly conic, 3–8(–10) mm; rostellum lobes directed forward, wide-spreading, rounded-angular; pollinaria straight; pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs; viscidia orbiculate; ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 3–10 mm. 2n = 42, 63 (American, as Habenaria obtusata), 126 (Eurasian, as Habenaria obtusata).

Orchis obtusata Banks ex Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 588. 1814; Habenaria obtusata (Banks ex Pursh) Richardson; H. obtusata var. collectanea Fernald

Flowering Jun--Aug. Mesic to wet coniferous forest, forested fens, sphagnum bogs, stream banks, tundra, moist roadsides; 0--3500 m; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Colo., Idaho, Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., Mont., N.H., N.Y., Oreg., Utah, Vt., Wash., Wis., Wyo.; Eurasia [Platanthera obtusata subsp. oligantha].

Platanthera obtusata (Blunt-Leaved Orchid)
(insects suck nectar; many species of mosquitos and some Geometer moths are considered effective pollinators of this orchid – the length of an insect's proboscis is particularly important in determining pollinator effectiveness; observations are from Thien, Thien & Utech, and Voss & Riefner)

Flies
Culicidae: Aedes sp. sn (TU), Aedes canadensis sn fq (Th, TU), Aedes communis sn fq (Th, TU), Aedes punctor sn (TU), Aedes sticticus sn (TU), Aedes vexans sn np (Th), Culex sp. sn np (Th), Mansonia perturbans sn np (Th)

Moths
Arctiidae: Haploa sp. sn np (TU), Hypoprepia sp. sn np (TU); Ctenuchidae: Ctenucha sp. sn np (TU); Geometridae: Campaea sp. sn np (TU), Caripeta sp. sn np (TU), Dysstroma sp. sn np (TU), Euchlaena sp. sn np (TU), Hydriomena renunciata sn (TU), Mesoleuca ruficillata sn (TU), Metanema sp. sn np (TU), Scopula sp. sn np (TU), Xanthorhoe abrasaria sn fq (TU), Xanthorhoe lacustrata sn fq (TU), Xanthotype sp. sn np (TU); Pyralidae: Anageshna primordialis sn (VR); Thyatiridae: Habrosyne sp. sn np (TU)

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Species: 6
Species With Barcodes: 1

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Species: 6
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure