Epipactis-microphylla_1

Description:

Epipactis microphylla (Ehrh.) Sw., syn.: Helleborine microphylla (Ehrh.) Schinz & Thell.. Limodorum microphyllum (Ehrh.) Kuntze, Serapias microphylla Ehrh., Epipactis latifolia subsp. microphylla (Ehrh.) Bonnier & Layens, Epipactis helleborine var. microphylla (Ehrh.) Rchb. f., Epipactis latifolia var. microphylla (Ehrh.) DC.Family: OrchidaceaeEN: Small-Leaved Helleborine, DE: Kleinblttrige StndelwurzSlo.: drobnolistna movirnicaDat.: May 17. 2012Lat.: 44.90277 Long.: 13.97905 (WGS84)Code: Bot_0618/2012_DSC3545Habitat: stony dirt-road side; skeletal, calcareous ground, open place, almost full sun; elevation 25 m (80 feet); average precipitations 900-1.000 mm/year, average temperature 13-14 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: South Istria peninsula, east-northeast of the town Pula, between villages Valtura and Kavran; above the road, in a small, shallow sea bay, Istria, Croatia EC.Comment: Epipactis microphylla is a rare and everywhere protected plant. It is difficult to find it but easy to be recognized. This wild orchid is a small plant, having very small leaves compared to all other helleborines. This alone suffices for proper determination. Also small, only one to two cm long, greenish or reddish-green flowers are small and almost never open fully. All plant is densely hairy and the epiphyll is of triangular, pointed shape. The plant is allogamous (reproducing by cross-fertilization, pollinated by insects) but also autogamous (self-fertilizing) in bad, particularly very dry, seasons. In this case the flowers even do not open.This species usually grows in dense broadleaved forests, mainly in deep shade. The specimen photographed is obviously an exception in this respect.Protected according to: Uredba o zavarovanih prostoiveih rastlinskih vrstah, poglavje A, Uradni list RS, t. 46/2004 (Regulation of protected wild plants, chapter A, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 46/2004), (2004).Ref.:(1) Personal communication Mr. Branko Dolinar, www.orhideje.si(2) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 1032 .(3) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 764. (4) H. Baumann, S. Kuenkele, R. Lorenz, Orchideen Europas, Ulmer (2006), p 87.(5) H. Kretzschmar, Die Orchideen Deutschlands und angrenzenden Lander, Quelle Meyer (2008), p 132.(6) B. Dolinar, Kukavievke v Sloveniji (Orchidaceae of Slovenia) (in Slovenian), Pipinova Knjiga (2015), p 71.(7) www.aho-bayern.de/taxa/fs_taxa_01.html (accessed Sept.13. 2020)