Liparis nervosa (Thungberg) Lindley 1830

Seed capsules starting their development

This is a common orchid in the understory of wet and moist forests from low to high elevations, it is widespread except along the south coast of Puerto Rico.¹  This plant is cosmopolitan, that is it is found all over the world. Although this is a relatively common plant it is very rare to see it in local orchid collections, only people that grow native orchids usually show any interest on it and of those it is only the most dedicated and hardcore that keep them.

The flowers are small and relatively inconspicuous.  You need a magnifying lens to truly appreciate their beauty.  All the plants that I have seen in the wild have been growing terrestrially in the gently sloping sides of the local haystack hills.  

¹ Ackerman, James D.  1995.  An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.