White Bog Orchid
Platanthera dilatata
Orchid family (Orchidaceae)
All orchids must be pollinated by insects. The White Bog Orchid's spur holds on which moths and other insects with long tongues feed, thereby pollinating the plant or carrying pollen to another orchid. The presence of the spur differentiates the white bog orchid from the related Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana).
fused means joined together.
nectar -- A sweet fluid produced by the nectary in flowers and collected by bees and other insects.
A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.
Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.
A spike is an unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are without stalks.
lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.