White Bog Orchid

Notes:

White bog orchid (P. dilatata) is a widespread species split into three varieties based on spur length and shape. In variety albiflora, the spur is club-shaped and shorter than the lip, while in var. dilatata the spur is more slender and equal in length to the lip. Variety leucostachys has strongly curved spurs that are more than 1.5 times longer than the lip. All of the varieties are similar in having numerous, small, white flowers clustered into a thick, elongated spike borne at the tip of leafy 6-36 inch tall stems. The lip petal is distinctive in being conspicuously broader at the base (“dilated”) than the smooth, tongue-shaped tip. White bog orchid is primarily a denizen of wet places, including marshes, stream sides, springs, and bogs. The species has an unusual bipolar distribution pattern, with one population centered in northeastern North America from Manitoba to Newfoundland south to Illinois and Massachusetts, and a second ranging from Alaska to Alberta, Colorado, and California along the western cordillera. Only var. dilatata is present in eastern North America, while all three forms occur in the west.