Bog adder’s-mouth

Ophrys paludosa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 947. 1753; Epipactis paludosa (Linnaeus) F. W. Schmidt; Hammarbya paludosa (Linnaeus) Kuntz; Sturmia paludosa (Linnaeus) Reichenbach

Plants 3–23 cm. Roots fine. Pseudobulbs 4–8 mm diam. Leaves 2–3, basal; blade elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 0.3–3.5 × 0.1–1.5 cm. Inflorescences spicate racemes, 0.5–9 cm; floral bracts lanceolate, 1.4–3.3 mm; pedicels 2–3 mm. Flowers 2–55, not resupinate, green or yellowish green; dorsal sepal ovate-lanceolate, (1.6–)2–2.5 × 1–1.6 mm, apex acuminate; lateral sepals reflexed, elliptic, falcate, (1.6–)2.5 × 1–1.6 mm, apex acuminate; petals strongly recurved, ovate-lanceolate, 1.4–1.9 × 0.5–1 mm, apex acuminate; lip ovate with dark green veins, 1.2–1.8 × 0.7– 1 mm, base cuneate, apex unlobed, acuminate; column (0.3–)0.5–0.7 × (0.3–)0.5–0.7 mm; pollinia yellow. Capsules ascending, ellipsoid, 4 × 2 mm. 2n = 28.

Flowering summer. Open sphagnum bogs, swampy woods; 10--300 m; Alta., B.C., Man., N.W.T., Ont., Sask. Yukon; Alaska, Minn.; Eurasia.

Malaxis paludosa sometimes reproduces asexually by production of gemmae on the leaf tips (R. L. Taylor 1967).

SELECTED REFERENCES

Baldwin, W. K. W. 1961. Malaxis paludosa (L.) Sw. in the Hudson Bay lowlands. Canad. Field-Naturalist 75: 74–77. Taylor, R. L. 1967. The foliar embryos of Malaxias paludosa. Canad. J. Bot. 45: 1553–1556.