You can generally google the scientific name of the plant and come up with a few descriptions and distribution.
Common names can be gross misnomers so a "stream orchid" may not be what it seems - a true orchid - especially if you are sure your species is truely in the Hellbore family.

thank you for the info...i foud a great website concerning the broadleaf helleborine. and it does show it living in northern CT. http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/plant_profile.cgi?symbol=EPHE&rtnscr=qurymenu.html&rtnpar=

this site had some great info on it. Thanks again --dru

I did a search and found that E. gigantea (a true orchid) grows in zones 4-8, so maybe even if it is not native to the NE, perhaps it got somehow planted there and survived? Another thing I can think of is that it could be Epipactis helleborine and not E. gigantea?

Yes Nazanine, thanks for helping...i found out that i was wrong about it being a E. gigantea, it's actually a E. helleborine. :O how embarassing..lol but thanks for the input guys, i really appreciated it :) -- dru

Not to confuse you more, but here's a Japanese species, E. thunbergii, that is quite beautiful with bright orange flowers. You can grow E. gigantea in the NE and it should be available from some vendors of western wildflowers. It is more colorful and larger than E. helleborine, and I've heard it's not too hard to grow. PF

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:433071}}

wow! that is a gorgeous plant! its leaves are very simmilar to the E. helleborine... interesting... thanks! --dru