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Orchidaceae
Lesser Butterfly Orchid
Platanthera bifolia
Delicacy and grace.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Genus
- Platanthera
- Native to
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 8-18 in
- Sunlight
- partial shade to full sun
- Soil
- moist, slightly acidic to neutral
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 4-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Its flowers release a strong sweet fragrance at night to attract nocturnal moth pollinators.
- The long nectar spur can only be accessed by moths with sufficiently long proboscises.
- Charles Darwin studied its pollination and used it to illustrate co-evolution between flowers and insects.
- It depends on soil fungi (mycorrhizae) for germination and early growth, taking years to produce a first flower.
- The two parallel pollen masses distinguish it from the greater butterfly orchid, where they diverge.
Color meanings
0
delicacy
1
elegance
2
night beauty