Some of the Platanthera species seem to prefer extreme biotopes. This one grows only in the frigid meadows of Iceland and the coasts of Greenland. The blossoms are green-white and the leaves long and sword-shaped. The plant can grow up to forty centimeters high.

Probably it will be difficult to keep the orchids of the north in culture. Most of them like Calypso bulbosa, P. hyperborea or Cypripedium passerinum from Alaska don't like warm summers and demand an undisturbed winter rest in the frozen ground. This makes container culture difficult and outdoors culture almost impossible.