Goodyera repens(L.) R.Br.

Dwarf rattlesnake plantain (America)lesser rattlesnake plantain

WFO wfo-0000974755 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Goodyera repens, photographed by Игорь Васильев
fig. a Игорь Васильев, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-21 / obs. 199295670

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 102 botanical countries

Regions where Goodyera repens is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Assam, East Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Yukon AltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIranIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAssamEast HimalayaMyanmarNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraineAlaskaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaColoradoConnecticutIdahoKentuckyLabradorMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTennesseeVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinYukon Korea
Native distribution of Goodyera repens, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Idaho IDA
Kentucky KTY
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Yukon YUK
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
East Himalaya EHM
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 341 in flower of 603 examined

Proportion of examined Goodyera repens in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 0 3 too few examined
Feb 0 4 too few examined
Mar 0 4 too few examined
Apr 0 14 0% 0% to 22%
May 0 18 0% 0% to 18%
Jun 4 35 11% 5% to 26%
Jul 184 250 74% 68% to 79%
Aug 148 206 72% 65% to 78%
Sep 5 45 11% 5% to 24%
Oct 0 14 0% 0% to 22%
Nov 0 9 0% 0% to 30%
Dec 0 1 too few examined

Peak flowering in Jul. Each bar is the share of Goodyera repens observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 341 of 603 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 4 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 2,012 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -25.9 °C -11.2 °C -1.0 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 16.9 °C 21.8 °C 24.5 °C
Annual rainfall 432 mm 725 mm 1,495 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 33 mm 112 mm 269 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,012 research-grade observations of Goodyera repens that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 28 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Elasmatium repens (L.) Dulac
  • Epipactis chinensis (Schltr.) Hu
  • Epipactis mairei (Schltr.) Hu
  • Epipactis repens (L.) Crantz
  • Epipactis repens var. ophioides (Fernald) A.A.Eaton
  • Gonogona repens (L.) Link
  • Goodyera brevis Schltr.
  • Goodyera chinensis Schltr.
  • Goodyera mairei Schltr.
  • Goodyera ophioides (Fernald) Rydb.
  • Goodyera pubescens var. repens (L.) Alph.Wood
  • Goodyera repens f. ophioides (Fernald) P.M.Br.
  • Goodyera repens subsp. ophioides (Fernald) Á.Löve & W.Simon
  • Goodyera repens var. japonica Nakai
  • Goodyera repens var. ophioides Fernald
  • Goodyera repens var. repens
  • Neottia repens (L.) Sw.
  • Orchiodes repens (L.) Kuntze
  • Orchiodes resupinata Kuntze
  • Orchis repens (L.) Eyster ex Poir.
  • Peramium repens (L.) Salisb.
  • Peramium repens var. ophioides (Fernald) A.Heller
  • Peramium secundum (Raf.) House
  • Satyrium hirsutum Gilib.

and 4 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.