Page 41 - Растения Сахалинской области в легендах и мифах

Platanthera ophrydioides

(Platanthera ophrydioides Fr. Schmidt)

Up to 30 cm high, with oblong-ovate
tubers and a single oblong-elliptical leaf
in the lower part of a straight, thin stem.
Greenish flowers in a loose brush up to 10
cm long.
Occurs sporadically throughout
Sakhalin Island (Okhinsky, Tymovsky,
Smirnykhovsky, Uglegorsky, Tomarinsky,
Korsakovsky Districts) and on the Kuril
Islands: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan.
Outside the Russian Federation — in Japan.

The young healer Kari was very fond of flowers and could easily say
what properties this or that flower possesses. She saw all the native
plants except one. The elders told her about a miraculous flower that
blooms only once a year - on the shortest night. One day the mother

of the healer fell seriously ill, and none of the flowers known to Kari
helped. Then the girl decided to go in search of that very wonderful
plant. She spent the whole day searching. When the sun went down,
the tired girl began to cry tearfully for help. A forest spirit responded
to her desperate call. He felt sorry for Kari and decided to help. The
girl suddenly felt a flower scent unknown to her, which led her to a

clearing where a miraculous flower grew. The forest spirit came out
from behind the trees and immediately warned the girl that if she picks
a flower, she will have to take its place. Kari accepted her fate and
made a healing potion. Her mother recovered, and the girl returned to
that place and turned into a flower.

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