Arethusa

(Arethusa bulbosa)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Arethusa (Arethusa bulbosa L.)

Identification: Flowers pink, large. Lower petal rectangular, ragged with a crumpled look, spotted with darker red and a central yellow tinge. Middle petals ovate, overhanging the mouth of the flower. Upper 3 "petals" (actually sepals) more elongate and generally erect. Flower solitary at the top of the plant. Stem with a series of small, scalelike bracts. Plant developing a single grasslike leaf after the plant flowers. Plant 5 to 10 inches in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to Newfoundland in the east, southward to North Carolina in the mountains.

Habitat: Arethusa is found in sphagnum bogs and swamps.

Flowering period: May to July.

Similar Species: Arethusa is unmistakable.

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