Bog Hammarbya

Family Orchidaceae. Occurs in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Characterized by significant gaps in its range. Associated with peat, sedge-sphagnum bogs and marshy lake shores, where clayey or peaty, poorly aerated soils saturated with water are common. More often in full light, but sometimes with some shading. Usually hidden in the moss cover, from which only the inflorescence is visible.

A plant with a filiform rhizome and an annually formed stem tuber located at the base of the stem and covered by leaf sheaths. Stem thin, 6-20 cm tall; two leaves are situated at the base of the stem, they are rather thick, oblong or oblong-ovate, blunt or slightly pointed, 1-2.7 cm long, 0.5-1.1 cm wide in the middle. In the axil of the upper leaf there is a swelling where the tuber for the following year is formed. Inflorescence an erect many-flowered raceme, 2-7 cm long, often about half the height of the plant. Flowers small, 2-6 mm long, yellowish-green. Perianth segments (tepals) free; outer ones 2-3 mm long, oblong-ovate, larger than the inner ones; the median outer one is directed downward while the lateral ones are directed upward. Tepals of the inner whorl lanceolate, bent back horizontally. The lip without a spur, turned upward, ovate, slightly concave, 1.5-2 mm long, entire, shorter than the outer perianth segments, sometimes acute. Ovary not twisted. Flowers in July-August. For vegetative reproduction, bog Hammarbya produces tiny round budding buds (bulbils) located along the leaf margin. Such a method of reproduction is rare among orchids.