Two Rare Plants

S1 Means Extremely Rare

Small Round-leaved Orchid

A field trip to Shea Lake near Plaster Rock revealed many interesting plants.  Among them were many rare ones but two species were especially rare.  We found two S1 species, species that are listed as extremely rare.  

Shown above is the Small Round-leaved Orchid, Amerorchis rotundifolia.  This plant is only known from 7 places in the province.  It is a small plant, 20 to 25 cm tall.  It has one large basal leaf which is oval or round and 3 to 7 cm long.  The flowers are white or purplish with magenta or purple spots on the lip.  The flowers are usually in a raceme (spike).  It grows in conifer swamps, bogs, spruce forests and peaty soil.  It is distributed from Northern Canada south to Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont and Maine.  It blooms in June and July.

Small Round-leaved Orchid

The Lapland Buttercup Ranunculus lapponicus is the other S1 species we found.  It has only been found in 3 other places in the province.  It was first found by Erwin Landauer at Shea Lake in 1980.  We searched the site carefully and eventually found it.  It has a distinctive leaf which rests tight to the peat moss.  The flower is inconspicuous.  Shown below are the leaves and the flower.

Lapland Buttercup

Lapland Buttercup

The Lapland Buttercup grows in cedar swamps and bogs in areas with calcareous soils.  It is about 25 cm tall and the leaves are shamrock-shaped and bluish green.  The flower is about 1-2 cm in diameter and very inconspicuous in the bog environment.  Its range is from Alaska to Labrador, south to British Columbia and Maine.  It also is found in Northern Europe and Greenland.