Native orchid found in moist, shady, cool forest, often on sphagnum moss. As you can see above, very slender plant. Has very small flowers, 5 mm from top to bottom, and only 2 mm wide. The flower sepals form a triangular shape, flower petals are very small. Flowering raceme 4.5 cm long. Plants have a single, clasping, basal leaf, eliptical to oval in shape, we measured one at 28 mm wide, 45 mm long. Plant is glabrous.

In flower here late June, through to late July. Rare, listed as an S1S2 by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre. I've seen these plants in 5 or 6 locations in our boreal forest.

Height listed in the field guides from 5 to 20 cm.

These photos were taken in late June and early July in boreal forest in central Saskatchewan.

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.

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