Synonyms: Dremlik zimovnikovy, Dremlik hellebore

Folk names: forest hellebore, forest kupena, icicle, shumira, hawthorn.

Family Orchidaceae - Orchids

Genus Epipactis - Dremlik

The most widespread species of this genus.

Perennial plant 35-70 cm high with a thick short rhizome.

The stem is light green, rather thick.

The leaves are alternate, stalked, oval, slightly pointed, with distinct longitudinal veins (1).

The flowers are numerous, medium-sized (up to 3 cm long), with a faint honey smell, collected in a straight one-sided brush (2). Corolla irregular shape, characteristic of all orchids. The outer tepals are purple-pink, the rest are greenish. The lip without a spur is divided into 2 lobes. They are rough and fluffy to the touch and have distinct longitudinal veins.

Blooms in July.

This is the most common of the three types of dremlik found in Russia. The distribution area is the European part of Russia and Siberia (up to Baikal).

Grows in deciduous and mixed forests, infrequently, singly or in small groups. In many densely populated areas, it is under the protection of the regional Red Books.

Application. Medicinal.
Therapeutic action: wound healing, antiseptic.

Indications for medical use: diseases of the musculoskeletal system, metabolic diseases

Dremlik broad-leaved. Teberdinsky Reserve. In broad-leaved, spruce-fir and mixed forests. 1300-1600 m above sea level. Occasionally, single copies. On the left bank of the river Teberda, from the mouth of M. Khatipara to the mouth of M. Khutov.

In our divine nature, beauty and a fairy tale are always nearby. Some plants want to be touched carefully and gently, because they are so fragile. So, the swamp dream is listed in the Red Book. And not in vain. This is a plant that grows in a swamp, which is why the name is appropriate. Every year the wild species of this plant is declining more and more, but they learned to cultivate it and use it to decorate rocky hills.

In another way, it is also called the northern orchid, because it is a small copy of a room beauty, it only lives in the wild. I would like to get to know this herbaceous plant of the Orchid family - the swamp napkin.

The legend of the northern orchid

There is one very beautiful legend about the swamp dream. It tells about one handsome and stately hunter. All the girls fell in love with him, but he was inaccessible. Once in the forest he met one amazing beauty in a dress made of thin blades of grass and petals. On her head was a wreath of pine branches. They fell in love with the hunter in each other.

Often the young man began to go into the forest, returning without prey. This oddity became noticeable even to the villagers. Once one of the village girls followed the hunter and saw him with a forest beauty. The angry girl decided to outwit the guy, she took a sleeping potion from the healer and gave it to the hunter to drink. He fell asleep so soundly that he could not go to meet his beloved, who was waiting for him in the thicket of the forest.

The forest beauty found him sleeping near a tree, began to wake him up, but he only slept soundly, protruding his lower lip. The beauty was the mistress of the forest and possessed great charms. Offended by her lover, she decided to turn him into a flower. The shape of the flower resembled an open pharynx. But the forest mistress did not leave her beloved hunter. Often she turned into a golden bee, flew to a flower and drank fragrant nectar from his lips. Isn't it beautiful!

Description of the broadleaf plant

This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus and named Serapias Longifolia. But soon this name was recognized as illegal, and Philip Miller gave the definition of Serapias palustris.

What does this grass that grows in a swamp look like? These are herbaceous bushes 30-70 cm high. They are distinguished by a long, stolon-shaped, branched, creeping rhizome with adventitious roots.

The upper part of the stem is slightly pubescent, has a light green or pinkish tint. The arrangement of the leaves is alternate. They have an oblong-lanceolate, pointed shape up to 20 cm long. At the top, the leaves are already small, similar to bracts.

flower shape

It is important to note that young plants do not bloom, flowers appear only after eleven years of life. The inflorescence has the shape of a brush. Each of them contains from six to 20 flowers with bracts. Anyone who is familiar with orchids will immediately imagine the shape of this flower. It has a protruding oblong lip without a spur.

The petals are folded-wrinkled, divided into two parts. They are white with purple veins. But there is also a dark red swamp dream, the description of which you will see below. The flowers have six petals of different shapes and brightness with elegant frills and specks. The heads of flowers lowered down seem to doze in anticipation of the moment of pollination.

Pollination methods

The flowers have a straight drooping ovary. The nectar of the marsh dream has an intoxicating property. It attracts insects for pollination. Small creatures are the main means and method of pollination. Bumblebees, wasps, ants often sit on the plant. But sometimes self-pollination occurs. The flowering period is June-July. Seeds ripen in September, have a dusty form. The plant can be propagated by seeds or root division. In one ripe box there can be about 3000 dust particles.

There are two main types of dremlik: wintering and dark red. We have described to you the flowers of the wintering species.

Growth area

Where does the swamp wrecker live? He loves the outskirts of swamps, forest glades, groundwater outlets, thawed patches, limestones, swampy forests, damp meadows. Sometimes it can be found even in ditches and along the sides of highways and railways. Prefers neutral and alkaline soils. Its habitat is Western Europe, Scandinavia, Iran, the Himalayas, the Mediterranean of Asia Minor. It is also found in the latitudes of North America, Africa, Eurasia. In Russia, it grows in the Caucasus, in Western and Eastern Siberia. It can also be found in the Crimea. The plant is very fond of light, rarely found in shading.

Dark red dremel

The deep purple dremlik is a beautiful miniature orchid. These flowers grow near the banks of the Ural river Vagran. A small reserve has been formed here. People come here in July to admire the dark red bouquets. Long roots allow the plant to gain a foothold even on the stones of rocky cliffs.

Dark red dremlik also grows in the Sverdlovsk region, sometimes found in the Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Ulyanovsk region. It also grows in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. In July, the dark red dremlik has a sweetish vanilla scent that attracts bees, wasps, bumblebees, and nectar-hungry beetles. Thanks to them, the wild orchid is pollinated and then reproduces with ripened seeds.

Application in landscape design, maintenance

Many gardeners and landscapers use the wild orchid as a decorative ornament. When planting it, flower growers use fortified slightly acidic water. The plant requires regular watering, cleaning from weeds, prevention from pests, such as aphids. After the end of fruiting, vegetative propagation is carried out. The seed will germinate when a microscopic fungus falls on it. After that, the seedling rests in the soil for two years and is fed by plant cells. Only after that it begins to germinate above the ground.

Often a dream is planted by dividing the root. To do this, part of the root system is separated and planted in open dark areas. For the winter, the bushes are covered with leaves, covered with earth so that the root system does not freeze. The attractiveness of the marsh dream lies in the pubescent stem part, bright inflorescences with long bracts. Having a sophisticated beauty, the plant is a fragile element of the ecosystem.

In addition to decorative purposes, people use marsh wreath as a medicinal plant. Swamp orchid is used to stimulate sexual impotence. Once a decoction of a wild orchid was prepared from a plant. A decoction of a wild orchid tones up the central nervous system, strengthens the body, prevents cancer, and relieves toothache. Unfortunately, the northern orchid is listed in the Red Book. Especially the disappearance of this species is associated with land reclamation. People should cherish and protect the marsh napkin, because it is a rather rare plant!

Dremlik marsh- E. palustris

The most decorative of the species of this genus - grows in light swampy forests, swampy forest glades, wet meadows, often around springs, mainly on limestone. Steadfastly holds the occupied territory, therefore it can meet in an unexpected place, but always in the place of former swamps. Prefers lighted places, withstands excessive stagnant moisture and insufficient soil aeration. It occurs within the forest zone in the European part of Russia, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in Central Asia, in Western Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia and Iran.

A plant with a creeping rhizome and long internodes. Stem up to 70 cm in height, slightly pubescent in the upper part, light green or pinkish, with numerous alternate leaves, oblong, up to 25 cm in length; the upper leaves are smaller, similar to bracts. Inflorescence - brush of 6 - 20 flowers, with long bracts. Flowers up to 2.5 cm long, drooping, on twisted pedicels, outer tepals greenish with faint purple stripes, internal whitish with pink stripes. Lip without a spur, oblong, divided by a deep transverse notch into 2 lobes: the anterior lobe is cup-shaped-concave, pinkish on the outside, inside with orange warts, secreting nectar from the bottom; the posterior lobe is broadly oval, white, obtuse, slightly notched at the end, with a wavy edge, narrowed at the base into a bridge occupied by a tubercle, the lower edge of which is colored yellow. Ovary straight, pubescent.

Dremlik swamp propagated by seeds and rhizomes. The rhizome is highly branched, shallowly located, grows like a lily of the valley rhizome. Due to vegetative propagation, it forms rather large groups. Flowers are pollinated by insects, more often wasps, but self-pollination is often observed. The structure and dimensions of the parts of the lip of the marsh dremlik are ideally adapted to the structure and size of the body of pollinators of the genus Eumenes. Dremlik nectar has a narcotic property, which is possibly caused by the action of yeast fungi found in it. After visiting several flowers, the wasp cannot fly, but only crawls from flower to flower, from inflorescence to inflorescence, loaded with clusters of pollinia, and the flowers of the dream do not fade for a long time, continuing to secrete intoxicating nectar, irresistibly attracting insects. In addition to Eumenes, other species of solitary wasps, bumblebees and ants also pollinate the marsh dream.

Dremlik marsh is characterized by long flowering from June to the end of August. Before and after pollination, the flowers droop, and for pollination they take a horizontal position. The percentage of pollination is high - up to 80% of the flowers form fruits. The fruit contains up to 4.5 thousand seeds. Seed germination is about 70%.

Location: prefers a semi-shady location and rich, non-acidic soils that do not contain fresh organic matter. Moisture-loving. It puts up with stagnant waters, prefers places where groundwater is shallow. Growing on dry soils, it becomes stunted and blooms poorly. Adult specimens are almost independent of mycorrhiza and therefore easily tolerate transplantation.

Reproduction: vegetatively propagated by division in early spring and after fruiting. Seed propagation in culture is difficult. Seeds are small as dust. A tiny seed can germinate only if a special microscopic fungus penetrates into it in the soil. For several years, the seedling is in the soil. Then the escape appears above the ground. It will take 10-15 years before the plant blooms.

Usage: indispensable for plantings such as "bog", original in group plantings and cutting. Dremlik is a plant for collectors and true connoisseurs of nature, because you can fully experience the splendor of its flowers only by kneeling down. This orchid is good to use in rocky gardens, for planting on the shore or shallow water of a small reservoir. Next to Dremlik, you can place Tradescantia virginiana, a variegated form of stonecrop, low graceful varieties of hostas and ferns, as well as variegated forms of low ornamental grasses and sedges.

Photo Arkhipova Elena

Dremlik broad-leaved refers to perennial plants of the herbaceous type of the orchid family. The most numerous species of its kind. The natural area is the European part of Russia, the Crimea, the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia, Iran.

Description of broad-leaved dremlik

It grows in mixed and deciduous forests with low light. There are no complaints about the soil, any is suitable. Has a thick root. Height is about 1 m. The stem is erect, with upper branching. Poor for leaf framing. The shape of the leaves is oval, up to 10 cm long. The inflorescence is carpal, combined, with a large number of flowers of a greenish-purple hue.

Source: Depositphotos

Dremlik broad-leaved is considered a rare orchid

Bracts lanceolate. As can be seen in the photo of broad-leaved nappy, the lip is low-lying, surrounded by petals. There is a transverse division into two parts: concave behind, biconvex in front. Gives off a pleasant sweet scent. Blooms from July to August.

reproduction

Propagated mainly by seeds and vegetation. The fruit contains up to 4.5 thousand seeds. One individual gives about 3-9 fruit boxes. The percentage of germination is quite high. The sprout lives and develops underground for up to 9 years. Then young foliage breaks out. At the same time there is an active growth of the rhizome.

Flowering begins on the 11th year after sowing, from July to September. The dream flower has not known rest for several years in a row. Pollinated by bees and other insects. Capable of self-seeding.

Due to the strong and long rhizome, it can coexist in any soil. Not prone to rapid growth.

For cultivation in the country, some rules are observed:

• Moist soil with minimal organic matter is suitable. Dremlik does not require care at all, it just does not tolerate drought. Does not react to excess moisture.
• It is advisable to choose dark places or with diffused light. There are species that love direct sunlight. On especially hot days, they need protection.
• Regular and plentiful watering is required. Otherwise, there is a stopper in flowering. The opening of the bud occurs gradually: first the lower petals, later the upper ones.
• Landing is done in the spring, in a mulched base. Then weeding will not be required in the future.
• Organic top dressing is strictly contraindicated. Complex mineral compositions are preferred.

Does not need a transplant. It can grow in one place for several decades. If such a need arises, it easily takes root in another place. When propagated by cuttings, flowering occurs the next year.

In the wild, it is difficult to meet broad-leaved dremlik. This is a rare type of orchid. A distinctive feature is the permanently lowered color head.

There are about 70 species of dremlik, which are found in the temperate and subtropical zones of America, Asia and Europe. Dremlik is named so because of the drooping, as if "dormant" flowers. The genus includes perennial herbaceous rhizomatous plants with an inflorescence in the form of a straight brush, consisting of rather large greenish, purple, less often whitish-yellowish drooping flowers. The flower consists of 6 free petals arranged in two circles. Lip without spur. It is divided in the middle by a deep notch into 2 lobes - cup-shaped-concave, secreting nectar, and almost flat, bent down.

Dark red dremel (Epipactis atrorubens (Hoffm. ex Bernh.) Schult.)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Raceme 7-20 cm long, with densely pubescent axis. Flowers are dark purple. All tepals (except lips) converging, outer finely pubescent; the posterior lobe of the lip is oval, with a wide anterior entrance, the anterior cordate or fascicular, bluntly serrated along the margin.
Leaves: The stem bears 5-9 oval-lanceolate pointed leaves.
Height: 25-60 cm.
Stem: In the upper half fluffy, purple colored.
underground part: With a shortened rhizome.
Flowering in July, fruiting in August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Dark red dreamflower grows on forest slopes, more often on calcareous soil and on moistened sandy deposits along river valleys.
Prevalence: Distributed almost everywhere in Europe, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. In Russia - in the European part and in Western Siberia. In Central Russia, it occurs mainly in the southern and western regions.
Addition: Propagated vegetatively, forming small patches, and seeds.

broad-leaved dremlik (Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz)

Description of appearance:
flowers: Raceme 10-40 cm long, many-flowered. The outer tepals are greenish, the inner ones are pale green, pinkish in the lower half. The back of the lip is rounded, hemispherical-sac-shaped, arched, red-dark brown, greenish outside; the anterior part of the lip is broadly cordate-ovate, greenish-pale violet, slightly pointed.
Leaves: Leaves 4-10 in number, oval or elliptical lanceolate, glabrous.
Height: 35-100 cm.
Stem: Scattered pubescent above.
underground part: With a shortened rhizome.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blooms in June-July; fruiting in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Dremlik broad-leaved grows in shady deciduous and mixed forests and damp meadows, preferring places with open vegetation.
Prevalence: Distributed in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, China and Japan. In Russia, it is found almost everywhere in the European part (except for the southeast) and in Siberia.
Addition: Propagated by seeds.

Marsh Dreamcatcher (Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz)

Description of appearance:
flowers: The flowers are collected in a fairly rare raceme 6-15 (up to 20) cm long. The outer tepals are greenish, on the inside with indistinct dirty purple spots, the inner ones are whitish with indistinct purple-pink stripes in the lower half. The back of the lip is slightly concave, pinkish-white on the outside, inside with pink-violet veins and orange warts, the front is broadly oval, white, with a wavy rounded serrated edge and pink veins; the posterior and anterior lips are separated by a narrow bridge.
Leaves: Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, up to 15 cm long.
Height: 20-50(70) cm.
Stem: Slightly pubescent in the upper half.
underground part: With creeping rhizome.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blooms in July-August; bears fruit in August-September.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Dremlik marsh grows in wet swampy meadows and edges of swampy forests.
Prevalence: Distributed in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Central Asia, Iran. In Russia, almost throughout the European part, including in all Central Russian regions (more often in the northern ones), and in Siberia. Rare.
Addition: Propagated by seeds and vegetatively.