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Lesser Butterfly-Orchid

Lesser Butterfly-Orchid

Platanthera bifolia

Identify the Lesser Butterfly-Orchid from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Very common

Lesser Butterfly-Orchid is a slender wild orchid with a column of white, sweetly scented flowers that smell strongest at night. It grows widely across Europe and Asia in rich woods, damp clearings and meadows. Its flowers appear in early summer.

Did you know?

  • Protected in Finland.
  • The flowers release a strong night-time scent to attract moths, especially hawk-moths.

About the species

Identification

Perennial with a sturdy upright stem 25–50 cm tall. Two broad, oval leaves sit near the base; higher up there are 1–3 much narrower leaves. The many small white flowers make a straight, even column. Each flower has a long thin tube at the back (spur) and a narrow lower lip; they smell strongly at night. Look-alike Greater Butterfly-Orchid has the two yellow pollen pads inside the flower spreading apart; in Lesser they stand close and parallel. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

heath forest, herb-rich forest

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Grows in rich conifer or mixed woods, lush broadleaf woods, wet swampy woods and fens, and moist meadows and forest openings. Occurs throughout Finland except the northernmost parts.

Sources

Photo: Allefant, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platanthera bifolia austria.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: rantapensaikot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40049

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtön biologinen asema, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40049

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkolehdokki

See also