Giant Helleborine / Center For Plant Conservation
Search / Plant Profile / Epipactis gigantea
Plant Profile

Giant Helleborine (Epipactis gigantea)

Epipactis gigantea collected from Mission Trails Park in San Diego in May 2016 Photo Credit: Stacy Anderson
  • Global Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure
  • Legal Status: N/A
  • Family: Orchidaceae
  • State: AZ, BC, CA, CO, ID, KS, MT, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY
  • Nature Serve ID: 152197
  • Lifeform: Forb/herb
  • Categories of Interest: Orchids
  • Date Inducted in National Collection:
Description:

Epipactis gigantea is a tall perennial orchid that grows from creeping rhizomes. The one or more stems are 30 to100cm tall and are essentially hairless until the inflorescence, when they become pubescent. There are usually ten or more green leaves per plant, that alternate up the stem. Each leaf is 5-11 cm wide and up to 25 cm long. The lower leaves are ovate and sessile while the upper leaves are linear-lanceolate. The foliage dies back in the fall. After the foliage turns brown, the new shoots begin to spread away from the rhizome. The inflorescence is composed of 3 to 12 rather showy, greenish-yellow (with purple veining) to brownish purple, flowers (after Cronquist et al, 1977). It flowers from April through early August. (NatureServe)

Where is Giant Helleborine (Epipactis gigantea) located in the wild?

Habitat:

A wide variety of habitats, but all have a constant source of water for the roots (Coleman, 1988). (NatureServe)

Distribution:

Epipactis gigantea grows from southern British Columbia in Canada to northern Mexico and eastwards in the United States to South Dakota and Texas. There has also been at least one collection made in c

States & Provinces:

Giant Helleborine can be found in Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

Which CPC Partners conserve Giant Helleborine (Epipactis gigantea)?

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

  • 10/11/2020
  • Seed Collection

The San Diego Zoo Native Plant Seed Bank collected pods of Epipactis gigantea from Mission Trails Park in San Diego County, which are now being propagated in the Orchid House by San Diego Zoo Horticulture Staff.

  • 10/11/2020
  • Propagation Research

The San Diego Zoo Native Plant Seed Bank collected pods of Epipactis gigantea from Mission Trails Park in San Diego County, which are now being propagated in the Orchid House by San Diego Zoo Horticulture Staff.

  • 09/01/2020
  • Orthodox Seed Banking

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 2 accessions of Epipactis gigantea in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 2211600 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

Katie Heineman
  • 11/03/2017

The San Diego Zoo Native Plant Seed Bank collected pods of Epipactis gigantea from Mission Trails Park in San Diego County, which are now being propagated in the Orchid House by San Diego Zoo Horticulture Staff.

Nature Serve Biotics
  • 05/02/2017

The range of the Epipactis gigantea is very wide although it is generally not common within that range (except perhaps in California). It can be relatively abundant locally, but some these dense local patches may represent single genetic individuals. The species has an absolute habitat requirement for surface water, which is a threatened habitat in many parts of its range, and it can occur infrequently despite the availability of seemingly suitable habitat. Despite these concerns, on a rangewide basis it is thought to be ""apparently secure"" (G4) given the large number of existing populations---many without known threats---over its wide range.

Mary VB Goshorn
  • 01/01/2010

The main threat is loss of suitable habitat that is caused by water development projects or any activity that lowers the water table or disturbs the habitat. Rocchio et al. (2006) estimates the primary threats as being (in order of importance): recreation

Mary VB Goshorn
  • 01/01/2010

Possibly relatively few genets (genetic individuals), although many thousands of ramets (flowering stems). It is often described as locally abundant and very persistent, flourishing for decades in suitable habitats. Populations of E. gigantea are frequently small although there are some populations that get very large (>5000 ramets) (Thornhill, 1996). Often, however, even where the populations sizes exceed 1000-1500 ramets, the entire population is in an area smaller than 10-20m (Thornhill, 1996). (NatureServe)

MORE

Be the first to post an update!

Nomenclature
Taxon Epipactis gigantea
Authority Douglas ex Hook.
Family Orchidaceae
CPC Number 6259
ITIS 43481
USDA EPGI
Duration Perennial
Common Names Stream Orchid | Heleborina gigante | giant helleborine
Associated Scientific Names Epipactis gigantea | Amesia gigantea | Arthrochilium giganteum | Cephalanthera kokanica | Epipactis americana | Epipactis gigantea f. rubrifolia | Epipactis pringlei | Helleborine gigantea | Limodorum giganteum | Peramium giganteum | Serapias gigantea | Cephalanthera royleana
Distribution Epipactis gigantea grows from southern British Columbia in Canada to northern Mexico and eastwards in the United States to South Dakota and Texas. There has also been at least one collection made in c
State Rank
State State Rank
Arizona S3S4
British Columbia S3
California SNR
Colorado S2S3
Idaho S3
Kansas SNR
Montana S3
Nebraska SU
New Mexico S2?
Nevada SNR
Oklahoma S1S2
Oregon SNR
South Dakota S1
Texas S3
Utah S3S4
Washington S3
Wyoming S1
Ecological Relationships

Photos
Newsletters

Donate to CPC to Save this Species

CPC secures rare plants for future generations by coordinating on-the-ground conservation and training the next generation of plant conservation professionals. Donate today to help save rare plants from extinction.

Donate Today