Family: orchids (Orchidaceae)
Flowering time: May–August
Size: 15–45 cm
Habitat: dense deciduous, less often pine forests
Small-leaved marsh orchid (Epipactis microphylla) got its name from the small lance-shaped leaves that are shorter than the corresponding internode. At the top of its slender, downy-haired, more or less upright stem, under favorable conditions, 4 to 30 small flowers, 3 to 4 mm wide, open, which can also self-pollinate. The gray-green flowers with a violet tinge are horizontally protruding or sickle-shaped and smell of vanilla. The lower flowers are as long as the bracts, toward the top of the inflorescence the bracts become ever shorter.
Small-leaved marsh orchid prefers to grow on the edges of shaded forests on deep, moist soils on a base-rich substrate. As a rare species it is listed on Slovenia's endangered plant list, and is protected here.
