Minnesota Wildflowers


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Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon's Mouth)

Plant Info
Also known as: Swamp Pink
Genus:Arethusa
Family:Orchidaceae (Orchid)
Life cycle:perennial
Origin:native
Habitat:part shade, sun; coniferous swamps, peat bogs, fens, sedge meadows
Bloom season:May - July
Plant height:3 to 14 inches
USDA PLANTS database:Minnesota county distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower: irregular

[photo of flower] A single pale to hot pink irregular flower atop slender stem. Three solid colored, narrow elliptical sepals, up to ¼ inch wide and 1 to 1¾ inch long, are splayed erect over the flower; two petals similar to the sepals form a hood over the showy lower lip. The lower lip is first ascending then fully curved out and down revealing wrinkled edges and purple speckling with fleshy white to yellow bristles.

Leaves and stem: alternate simple

Flower stem with several tight narrow sheaths and an upper sheath-like leaf that extends after flowering to a narrow grass-like blade to 7 inches long.

Notes:

Another prized but rarely observed native orchid, extensive populations yet exist on the pattened peatland complexes of northern Minnesota. Its habitat is difficult to approach and generally uninteresting to the average sightseer, i.e. typically wet and buggy.

Where to buy native seed and plants

Help support this site by buying seeds & plants from these vendors. Tell them we sent you!

  • Prairie Restorations - Bringing people together with the land
  • Shop for native seeds and plants at PrairieMoon.com!
  • Out Back Nursery and Landscaping - Where Ecology and Horticulture Unite
  • Shooting Star Native Seeds - Native Prairie Grass and Wildflower Seeds

Map of native plant purveyors in the upper midwest

More photos

Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk, taken on the patterned peatlands off Hwy 72 north of Upper Red Lake in Beltrami County

Comments

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