Northern Green Orchid, Northern Bog Orchid, Platanthera aquilonis Sheviak, previously Platanthera hyperborea, Habenaria hyperborea, Minnesota Native Wildflowers, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

(Leafy Green Orchis, Northern Bog Orchid). The flowers of this orchid are greenish or greenish-yellow, up to 40 per plant, all stalkless, but subtended by an erect green bract. . The inflorescence is a tall raceme sometimes 8 to 10" long and containing the flowers that open from the bottom of the raceme first. Each flower has a hood on top formed by a sepal and two petals that are tucked in under the sepal. Below two yellow-green sepals spread out laterally and then a lower lip, the third petal, which you can see in the large photo below that when just opening (at the top of the raceme) this lower lip flexes upward and touches the upper hood. This plant self-pollinates. The leaves are strap-like, stalkless, with pointed tips as shown here, but sometimes rounded, and leaves are concentrated near the bottom of the stem, but are not basal. The stem, as can be seen in the large photo, is smooth but with vertical ridges on the upper part and into the raceme. Stem and inflorescence can be as short as 6" and as tall as 3 feet.

The habitat is bogs and wet meadows and moist woods, but it grows best in full sun. This orchid has one of the most extensive ranges of any orchid. The genus name Platanthera is derived from the Greek platys and anthera meaning together, a flat or broad anther, which is the characteristic of this genus.

	Historical Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Northern Green Orchid	Platanthera aquilonis Sheviak (previously Platanthera hyperborea and Habenaria hyperborea)	Orchid (Orchidaceae)	Not extant	June
Other names and notes	(Leafy Green Orchis, Northern Bog Orchid). The flowers of this orchid are greenish or greenish-yellow, up to 40 per plant, all stalkless, but subtended by an erect green bract. . The inflorescence is a tall raceme sometimes 8 to 10" long and containing the flowers that open from the bottom of the raceme first. Each flower has a hood on top formed by a sepal and two petals that are tucked in under the sepal. Below two yellow-green sepals spread out laterally and then a lower lip, the third petal, which you can see in the large photo below that when just opening (at the top of the raceme) this lower lip flexes upward and touches the upper hood. This plant self-pollinates. The leaves are strap-like, stalkless, with pointed tips as shown here, but sometimes rounded, and leaves are concentrated near the bottom of the stem, but are not basal. The stem, as can be seen in the large photo, is smooth but with vertical ridges on the upper part and into the raceme. Stem and inflorescence can be as short as 6" and as tall as 3 feet. The habitat is bogs and wet meadows and moist woods, but it grows best in full sun. This orchid has one of the most extensive ranges of any orchid. The genus name Platanthera is derived from the Greek platys and anthera meaning together, a flat or broad anther, which is the characteristic of this genus.