Malaxis unifolia

Malaxis unifolia
1829 illustration[1]
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Epidendroideae
Genus:	Malaxis
Species:	M. unifolia
Binomial name
Malaxis unifolia Michx. 1803
Synonyms
Orchis ophioglossoides Walter Malaxis ophioglossoides Muhl. ex Willd. Achroanthes unifolia (Michx.) Raf. Microstylis ophioglossoides (Muhl. ex Willd.) Nutt. ex Eaton Prescottia ophioglossoides (Muhl. ex Willd.) Spreng. Microstylis ophioglossoides var. mexicana Lindl. Achroanthes laxiflora Raf. Achroanthes obtusifolia Raf. Malaxis thlaspiformis A.Rich. & Galeotti Microstylis unifolia (Michx.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. Microstylis grisebachiana Fawc. & Rendle Malaxis grisebachiana (Fawc. & Rendle) Fawc. & Rendle Malaxis unifolia f. bifolia Mousley Malaxis unifolia f. variegata Mousley Malaxis amplexicolumna E.W.Greenw. & R.Gonzál

Malaxis unifolia, or the green adder's-mouth orchid,^[2] is a species of orchid occurring from eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland to Manitoba),^[3] the central and eastern United States (Maine to Florida, west as far as Minnesota, eastern Kansas, and eastern Texas),^[4] Mexico,^[5] Central America and the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic).^[6][7][8]

Malaxis unifolia generally has only one leaf and rarely two. Flowers have a green colour, in a raceme. It often resemble an umbel at first before it elongates.^[7]

Malaxis unifolia is a small orchid, no more than 50 cm tall. It produces up to 160 small green flowers, with a three-lobed labellum and strongly recurved lateral petals. It flowers in spring and early summer in the northern part of its range, while in the south it blooms later into the fall^[9].

1. ^ M. Hart del., J. Watts sc. - Edwards's Botanical Register, volume 15 plate 1290
2. ^ NRCS. "Malaxis unifolia". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 28 June 2015.
3. ^ Biota of North America Program, 2014 state-level distribution map
4. ^ Biota of North America Program, 2014 county distribution map
5. ^ SEINet, Southwestern biodiversity, Arizona chapter
6. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
7. ^ ^{a b} Flora of North America, Malaxis unifolia
8. ^ Ames, O. & D. S. Correll. 1952. Orchids of Guatemala. Fieldiana, Botany 26(1): i–xiii, 1–395
9. ^ "Malaxis unifolia (Green Adder's Mouth): Go Orchids". goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org. Retrieved 2025-08-24.

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