Hammarbya
Encyclopedia
Hammarbya paludosa is a small orchid commonly known as Bog Orchid, Bog Adder's-mouth or Bog Adder's-mouth Orchid. It grows in bog
s in temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere
.
. The name paludosa refers to the boggy ground where it grows. In 1891, Otto Kuntze
moved it to a new genus of its own called Hammarbya, named after Hammarby
, Linnaeus’s summer residence. Alternatively it is placed in the genus Malaxis
.
. There are two, three or sometimes four basal leaves. These are oval to oblong, fleshy and pale green or yellow-green. The edges and tips curve inwards. There are one to three small, scale-like leaves higher up the stem.
The flower
s grow in a spike-like raceme
that is 1.5-6 cm long and bears up to 25 flowers. They are small and greenish, about 2 mm wide and 4 mm tall. They have three sepal
s and three petals, one of which is modified to form a lip
. There is one dorsal sepal pointing downwards and two lateral sepals pointing up. The two normal petals are small, narrow and strap-shaped and curve back around the sepals. The short, triangular lip is dark green with paler stripes and points upwards and forwards. The flowers have a sweet, cucumber-like scent.
In the majority of orchids, the flowers are resupinate
, twisting 180° during development so that the lip points downwards. In Hammarbya paludosa, the flowers twist a further 180° so that the lip once more points upwards. Charles Darwin
noted this feature in his 1862 book Fertilisation of Orchids
.
. In Europe it occurs north to 69° in Scandinavia
and south to the Italian Alps, Balkans
and Romania
. It occurs locally across southern Siberia
east to Sakhalin
and Japan
. In North America, it is found from Alaska
east to Ontario
and south to Minnesota
. In the British Isles it is found widely but very locally with the largest numbers in north-west Scotland
. It has disappeared from much of England
but is more frequent in the New Forest
.
It grows in bog
s near streams and ditches or where there is a slow flow of water over the surface. It prefers acid
ic conditions but sometimes grows in more alkali
ne habitats. It most often grows in areas with a good cover of Sphagnum
moss but will also grow on bare ground or amongst sedge
s and grasses. It flowers between June and September in the British Isles.
by small flies. The plant reproduces with seeds or by means of bulbils, small buds which drop off and develop into new plants. The orchid has no true root
s and is dependent on fungi in its rhizome
to obtain nutrients. The bulbils do not carry fungi from the mother plant and must be infected by the fungi of the right species in the soil in order to develop into a new plant. The rhizome grows vertically in the soil and each year a new pseudobulb develops at the top.
and the Republic of Ireland
. It is generally rare in North America where it was not discovered until 1905. In Minnesota it is considered to be endangered.
Many bogs and wet heaths have been reclaimed for agriculture. At some sites lack of grazing has led to a reduction in the open habitat that it needs while at other sites the habitat has been degraded by overgrazing
. Many remaining colonies are small.
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s in temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
.
Taxonomy
It was originally named Ophrys paludosa by Carolus LinnaeusCarolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
. The name paludosa refers to the boggy ground where it grows. In 1891, Otto Kuntze
Otto Kuntze
Otto Carl Ernst Kuntze was a German botanist.-Biography:Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig.An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled Pocket Fauna of Leipzig. Between 1863 and...
moved it to a new genus of its own called Hammarbya, named after Hammarby
Linnaeus Hammarby
Linnaeus Hammarby is one of three botanical gardens belonging to Uppsala University in Sweden. It was the former summer home of Carolus Linnaeus and his family.-See also:...
, Linnaeus’s summer residence. Alternatively it is placed in the genus Malaxis
Malaxis
Malaxis, commonly Adder's Mouth, is a genus of terrestrial and semiepiphytic orchids. The generic name signifies "smooth" and alludes to the tender texture of the lamina. There are approximately 250 species....
.
Description
It is a small, inconspicuous orchid which can reach 15 cm in height but usually grows to between 4 and 8 cm. The stem is yellow-green, has three to five corners and grows from a small pseudobulbPseudobulb
The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...
. There are two, three or sometimes four basal leaves. These are oval to oblong, fleshy and pale green or yellow-green. The edges and tips curve inwards. There are one to three small, scale-like leaves higher up the stem.
The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s grow in a spike-like raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
that is 1.5-6 cm long and bears up to 25 flowers. They are small and greenish, about 2 mm wide and 4 mm tall. They have three sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and three petals, one of which is modified to form a lip
Labellum
Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...
. There is one dorsal sepal pointing downwards and two lateral sepals pointing up. The two normal petals are small, narrow and strap-shaped and curve back around the sepals. The short, triangular lip is dark green with paler stripes and points upwards and forwards. The flowers have a sweet, cucumber-like scent.
In the majority of orchids, the flowers are resupinate
Resupination
Resupination generally means being upside-down, supine, facing upward. The word is derived from the Latin. In a biological context, the concept is commonly expressed with the adjectives "resupinate" or "non-resupinate."-Examples in green plants:...
, twisting 180° during development so that the lip points downwards. In Hammarbya paludosa, the flowers twist a further 180° so that the lip once more points upwards. Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
noted this feature in his 1862 book Fertilisation of Orchids
Fertilisation of Orchids
Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862 under the full explanatory title On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing...
.
Distribution and habitat
It has a wide range around the Northern HemisphereNorthern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
. In Europe it occurs north to 69° in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and south to the Italian Alps, Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. It occurs locally across southern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
east to Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In North America, it is found from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
east to Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and south to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. In the British Isles it is found widely but very locally with the largest numbers in north-west Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It has disappeared from much of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
but is more frequent in the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
.
It grows in bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s near streams and ditches or where there is a slow flow of water over the surface. It prefers acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
ic conditions but sometimes grows in more alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
ne habitats. It most often grows in areas with a good cover of Sphagnum
Sphagnum
Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...
moss but will also grow on bare ground or amongst sedge
Sedge
- Plants :* Acorus calamus, sweet flag, a plant in the Acoraceae family* Any of the plants in the family Cyperaceae- Animals :* A collective noun for several species of birds, including bitterns, cranes and herons* Sedge-fly, caddisfly- Other uses :...
s and grasses. It flowers between June and September in the British Isles.
Reproduction and growth
The flowers are pollinatedPollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
by small flies. The plant reproduces with seeds or by means of bulbils, small buds which drop off and develop into new plants. The orchid has no true root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s and is dependent on fungi in its rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
to obtain nutrients. The bulbils do not carry fungi from the mother plant and must be infected by the fungi of the right species in the soil in order to develop into a new plant. The rhizome grows vertically in the soil and each year a new pseudobulb develops at the top.
Status and conservation
It is declining across Europe because of habitat loss. It is classed as Nationally Scarce in Britain where it has disappeared from 61% of its former range. It is considered to be Endangered in Wales as several colonies have been lost recently. It has been lost from 66% of its range in Ireland and is a protected species in both Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is generally rare in North America where it was not discovered until 1905. In Minnesota it is considered to be endangered.
Many bogs and wet heaths have been reclaimed for agriculture. At some sites lack of grazing has led to a reduction in the open habitat that it needs while at other sites the habitat has been degraded by overgrazing
Overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild animals.Overgrazing reduces the...
. Many remaining colonies are small.