Green Adder's Mouth

(Malaxis unifolia)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

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

 

Green Adder's Mouth (Malaxis unifolia Michx.)

Identification: Flowers small, green, without a rear spur. Lower petal broad, trilobed. Two threadlike lateral petals and a bent, elongate upper petal covering the mouth of the flower. Flowers arranged in an elongate, terminal spike. Plant with a single ovate leaf clasping the middle of the stem. Plant 4 to 12 inches in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of eastern North America.

Habitat: Green Adder's Mouth is a woodland species.

Flowering period: June to August.

Similar Species: White Adder's Mouth has green-white flowers. It has a single leaf, but the leaf arises from near the base of the plant. The lateral petals are narrow, but not threadlike. Bog Twayblade has green flowers with threadlike lateral petals. However this species has two large, basal leaves.

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