Species Orchid, Bog Rose, Dragon's Mouth, Swamp Pink, Wild Pink, Arethusa

This plant is on the endangered list in Indiana. I have a plant preserve and wildflower farm, and would like to get some Arethusa bulbosa...Read More seed to start propogating this plant for Indiana.

Anyone have seed or knows where I can get some?

Please send an e-mail to me: reni@winterhavenfarm.us

Winterhaven Wildflowers
West Point, IN 47992

This is one of the earliest orchids to bloom in Newfoundland, starting in late June. It is very common in all of our bogs and at times, ...Read Morethe bogs can take on a pink hue from their many blooms. Flowers range from the very rare white form through light pink to deep pink. Here, they often occur side-by-side with two other pink bog orchids, Pogonia ophioglossoides and Calopogon tuberosus. Although it has been suggested that this orchid 'fools' its pollinators, in fact, this one does provide a nectar reward for the queen bumblebees who are the primary pollinator. Calopogon and Pogonia are the deceiving species, fooling their bee pollinators into thinking their flowers will offer a reward like those of the Arethusa. (I did my Honours Dissertation on the pollination ecology of these three pink bog orchids).

Arethusa is an endangered species in Connecticut.

The flowers of Arethusa offer little or no nectar reward to their poll...Read Moreinators, even though they are attractively colored and sweetly scented. They apparently deceive their pollinators, inexperienced queen bumblebees, by supplying all the cues of a rewarding flower without the rewards. The bees quickly learn to avoid the flowers, however, so pollination is dependent on an adequate supply of recently-emerged inexperienced bumblebees.