Rattlesnake plantain bloom

When we first moved into our woods some 30 years ago, I found several patches of Rattlesnake Plantain, a diminutive forest orchid whose leaves are said to resemble rattlesnake skin. I've never quite seen that, but then again, I've never seen a rattler in the woods, so I'm not the one to judge. Similar or not, the checkered leaves are definitely striking on the forest floor. Alas, over the decades, all of our Goodyera pubescens plants have disappeared, gone the way of our stand of Lady Slipper orchids. But in my walks, I've found other patches of green rattlesnakes, and this month, they've started to bloom. They send up a long bloom spike as much as a foot tall, and the top few inches are loaded with closely packed, exquisite little orchids, the buds of which are covered in tiny hairs, pubescent indeed. No fangs.

Rattlesnake closeup