Isotria medeoloides (Small whorled pogonia orchid)

This is the remainder of my loooooooong day trip to north central Georgia mountains to botanize with my friends, Alan, Steve, and Max. We spent 16 hours either on the road or in the woods in the Chattahoochee National Forest. All in all, we had a very productive day...

This is undoubtedly the most rare of the orchids we saw on our trip in the mountains. It is so rare, that it is federally listed as an endangered species. At the location where we found this plant, there were only two other Isotria medeoloides plants (that we could find), and they were without flowers. Actually, this one did not have a flower either. What you see in the center of the whorl of leaves is a seed capsule. This is a very good sign, since it gives some hope for a future population of this orchid...