Small orchid growing in calcareous fens and seeps, in forest openings and grassland. Erect plant with a single flowering stem. Yellow flowers in a loose raceme, flowers to 15 mm wide. Two opposite, basal leaves. Leaves are ovate, we measured them in top plant above at 7 cm long and 2 cm wide (leaf not flattened when measured). Plant is glabrous.

Flowers in early July. Height of plant in top photo above was 15 cm, flowering raceme was 7 cm long.

Height of plants varies from 5 to 20 cm.

Rare, listed as an S1S2 by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.

Above photos were taken in a wet prairie meadow, a seep beside a small prairie lake, about 65 km south east of our home in Regina, SK, and in a forest fen, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 300 km north east of our home in Regina, SK.

I get preachy here: please don't dig up native orchids to try to grow them in your garden. They are becoming rare in the wild due to loss of habitat and wild harvesting. By all accounts they are also quite difficult to transplant successfully from the wild. If you want to grow them in your garden, there are nurseries who grow native orchids from seed who will sell plants to you.