Platanthera hyperborea

Especially the European lovers of terrestrial orchids will find this plant highly interesting -for of the entire area of Europe ,the species grows only on cold ,volcanic Iceland ,an island apparently uninhabitable by orchids! Platanthera hyperborea arrived there after a ''miserable ''journey from America over the southern tip of Greenland .Some experts classify it as a Habenaria species .

Platanthera hyperborea has thickened beetroot-like roots. Its stalk is between 3.2 -16 in/8-40 cm tall and bears 4-8 leaves ,lanceolate ones at the bottom of the plant and increasingly smaller and more clasping ones ,the higher on the plant they are positioned Platanthera hyperborea spur is relatively short. Platanthera hyperborea grows on damp and alluvial meadows ,on the moors , and also in wet forests in America .It blooms between July and August .Besides Iceland, Platanthera hyperborea known to grow in the cool parts of North America ,as well as eastern Asia (Japan).