Habenaria bracteata. syn Dactylorhiza viridis. Longbract frog orchid. Have you found this. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DAVI6 Really good photos on this site.
Most definitely golden sedge (Carex aurea) for the second plant. One of my favourite sedges when I visit Manitoba, because it's about the only one I can identify by sight!
Thanks to both of you! The quoted site only has a drawing of the plant, but thanks for the hint, useful for other occasions.
So sorry you didn't find the pics, scroll down the page, at the bottom is...... View species account and photographs from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Freckmann Herbarium. Click to this which show tiny postage size pics. You can enlarge each one. There are some excellent close ups. http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=COEVIRvVIR
Now I got it! Thanks. I gotta admit though, that I would not have seen my plant and these as the same species. I guess that's where the experience comes in. Thanks again for your help!
On that 1st link. Scroll down to botton Cal photos. See.... http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Coeloglossum+viride Each pic enlarges well. Hope this helps.
I am just a simple economist meddling in botany, but I do believe now that I can see a systematic difference. The pics you refer to all sho a "split tongue" on the lower "petal", the one that sticks out. The ones on my plant are all undivided. Is that part of normal variation? That the long bracts on mine stand upright instead of sticking out is a matter of maturity of the plant? Sorry to be so persistent, the reason why I posted this to begin with was that I couldn't find any pictures that really covered what I saw on my plant.
Hmmm... I had to go through The Native Orchids of United States and Canada (excluding Florida) to see what was up with the lower lip. You're right, H. bracteata should have lobes on the lower lip. No other particular species closely matches, though... but fortunately, there is mention of a hybrid between Habenaria bracteata and Habenaria dilatata (or, in the names used by the author, Platanthera dilatata and Platanthera hyperborea - and hence named Platanthera × media) -- it might be possible to find this as Habenaria dilatata var. media or Habenaria media for Internet searches. Anyway, the description of this hybrid, after mentioning characters may be intermediate between the parents:
Apologies. Back in June I was merely directing you to a site for Habenaria with good close up pics, to enable you to make your own id. I have had a look on the net tonight and the nearest I could find to your pics is Platanthera aquilonsis. See.... http://www.em.ca/garden/native/nat_platanthera_aquilonsis.html However it will need an orchid expert to give you an accurate id. Sorry if I misled you.
