Plants

Bog Orchid

Bog Orchid (Hammarbya paludosa)

Bog Orchid is a very small plant of acid peaty wet ground, with tiny yellow-green flowers. The flowers are upside-down compared to most orchids, because the flower stalk twists through 360 degrees (in most orchids they twist through 180 degrees). Consequently the lip, which is broad and blunt, is at the top of the flower. The basal parts consist of a so-called pseudobulb ("false bulb") which is a swelling of the stem, covered by the bases of the leaves. There are no roots to speak of, only hairs which are infected with a mycorrhizal fungus by which the plant obtains much of its food from the surrounding peat soil. The leaves are oval and produce abundant bud-like structures at their tips which drop off and are a means of dispersal of the plant in addition to the production of normal seed.

The Bog Orchid is usually associated with Sphagnum mosses and is one of the most difficult orchid species to find. This is partly because of its rarity, partly because it is so tiny and inconspicuous and partly because it flowers very erratically.

In Northern Ireland, Bog Orchid is specially protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife Order and it has been identified as a Species of Conservation Concern because of its scarcity and decline in distribution.

Click here to view a distribution map of the Bog Orchid in Northern Ireland.