Jim Petranka
Green Adder's-mouth Orchid
We dropped by Grayson Highlands State Park in southwestern Virginia in hopes of finding Malaxis unifolia in bloom. This is a very small native orchid with tiny flowers, so it is easily overlooked (the entire flower head at this stage of flowring was about as wide as a quarter). After several minutes of searching in what looked like promising habitat we located four orchids that were just beginning to bloom. This is a dorsal view of the developing flowers.
Green Adder's-mouth Orchid
We dropped by Grayson Highlands State Park in southwestern Virginia in hopes of finding Malaxis unifolia in bloom. This is a very small native orchid with tiny flowers, so it is easily overlooked (the entire flower head at this stage of flowring was about as wide as a quarter). After several minutes of searching in what looked like promising habitat we located four orchids that were just beginning to bloom. This is a dorsal view of the developing flowers.