Epipactis palustris

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Epipactis palustris
Epipactis palustris 230705.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Epipactis
Species:
E. palustris
Binomial name
Epipactis palustris
Botanical drawing: Sturm Sturm04018.jpg
Botanical drawing: Sturm
Epipactis palustris - fruits Epipactis palustris - fruits.jpg
Epipactis palustris - fruits
Epipactis palustris var. ochroleuca - pale variety Epipactis palustris var. ochroleuca - Niitvalja bog.jpg
Epipactis palustris var. ochroleuca – pale variety

Epipactis palustris, the marsh helleborine, [2] is a species of orchid native to Europe and Asia.

Contents

Description

Epipactis palustris is a perennial herbaceous plant. This species has a stem growing to 60 cm high with as many as ten erect leaves up to 12 cm long and up to 4 cm wide, with parallel venation. It persists as an underground horizontal stem called a rhizome, from which new roots and stems grow each year. The aerial part of the stem is upright and has a cylindrical section. The base of the aerial stem is glabrous (smooth) and surrounded with pink scales, the upper part of the stem is pubescent and slightly reddened. The flowers are 17 mm across arranged in a one-sided raceme. In the typical form, the sepals are coloured deep pink or purplish-red, the upper petals shorter and paler. The labellum at least as long as the sepals, white with red or yellow spots in the middle. [3] Variants without most of the reddish colours of the typical form have been called E. palustris var. ochroleuca. [4] The fruit is a many-ribbed capsule, containing a large number of minute seeds.

Distribution and habitat

Europe, including the United Kingdom and Mediterranean countries, Turkey, north Iraq, the Caucasus, north Iran, West and East Siberia and Central Asia. [5] [6] This species occurs in the Sarmatic mixed forests ecoregion. [7]

Epipactis palustris is typically found in humid woodland and grassland, as well as in marshes, dune slacks and bogs. It prefers a calcareous substrate with a basic pH, low nutrient availability and medium wet.

Pollination and ecology

Each flower contains male and female organs of reproduction. Flowers produce nectar and are pollinated by wasps, bees and Diptera.

Orchids rely on a symbiotic relationship with soil fungi, which gives them access to more soil nutrients. Epipactis palustris is specialised compared to other Epipactis species, partnering mainly with fungal species in the order Helotiales , but also to a much lesser degree with Sebacina , Tulasnella , Thelephora and Ceratobasidium in descending order of frequency. [8]

Etymology

Epipactis is a Greek word the meaning of which is disputed, but some have translated it as "grow above". The species epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat. [9]

"Helleborine" may refer to deer using the orchid for food (many conservationists have noted that helleborine orchids are grazed by deer. [10] [11] [12] ). Alternatively it may denote that the plants are similar to hellebores (a group of species in the family Ranunculaceae), possibly because many species of orchid closely related to E. palustris have green flowers like the hellebores. "Hellebore" comes from the Greek "álkē" and "bora", translating as "fawn" and "food of beasts". [13]

Variation in flower colour
Epipactis palustris - Keila.jpg
Epipactis palustris - flower.jpg
Laialehine neiuvaip.jpg
Epipactis palustris var. ochroleuca - Niitvalja2.jpg

Related Research Articles

<i>Epipactis</i> Genus of orchids

Epipactis, or helleborine, is a genus of terrestrial orchids consisting of approximately 70 species. This genus is abbreviated as Epcts in horticultural trade.

<i>Caltha palustris</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Caltha palustris, known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a small to medium sized perennial herbaceous plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It flowers between April and August, dependent on altitude and latitude, but occasional flowers may occur at other times.

<i>Cephalanthera rubra</i> Species of orchid

Cephalanthera rubra, known as red helleborine, is an orchid found in Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia. Although reasonably common in parts of its range, this Cephalanthera has always been one of the rarest orchids in Britain.

<i>Cephalanthera longifolia</i> Species of orchid

Cephalanthera longifolia, the narrow-leaved helleborine, sword-leaved helleborine or long-leaved helleborine, is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant in the family Orchidaceae. It is native to light woodland, and widespread across Europe, Asia and North Africa from Ireland and Morocco to China. This includes the United Kingdom, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Algeria, India, Pakistan, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and many other countries.

<i>Neotinea ustulata</i> Species of orchid

Neotinea ustulata, the burnt orchid or burnt-tip orchid, is a European terrestrial orchid native to mountains in central and southern Europe, growing at up to 2,400 m (7,900 ft) elevation. The plant is considered Endangered in Great Britain and Least Concern internationally based on IUCN Red List criteria. The burnt-tip orchid was voted the county flower of Wiltshire in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife.

<i>Epipactis atrorubens</i> Species of orchid

Epipactis atrorubens, the dark-red helleborine or royal helleborine, is an herbaceous plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae.

<i>Epipactis helleborine</i> Species of orchid

Epipactis helleborine, the broad-leaved helleborine, is a terrestrial species of orchid with a broad distribution. It is a long lived herb which varies morphologically with ability to self-pollinate.

Epipactis helleborine var. youngiana, known as Young's helleborine, is a variety of orchid that is endemic to Great Britain. It has also been treated as a separate species, Epipactis youngiana.

<i>Dendrobium kingianum</i> Species of orchid

Dendrobium kingianum, commonly known as the pink rock orchid, is a flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It usually grows on rocks, rarely as an epiphyte, and has thin, spreading leaves and spikes of up to fifteen, usually pink flowers in late winter to spring. It is popular in Australian native horticulture and is a commonly cultivated orchid among Australian orchid species growers.

<i>Epipactis gigantea</i> Species of orchid

Epipactis gigantea is a species of orchid known as the stream orchid, giant helleborine, and chatterbox. This wildflower is native to western North America from British Columbia to central Mexico. This is one of the most abundant orchids of the Pacific coast of North America.

<i>Lathyrus palustris</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus palustris is a species of wild pea known by the common name marsh pea. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a perennial herb with leaves made up of oval-shaped or oblong leaflets a few centimeters long. It has branched, coiled tendrils. The plant bears an inflorescence of two to eight pinkish purple pea flowers each up to two centimeters wide. The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod.

<i>Dracula vampira</i> Species of orchid

Dracula vampira is an epiphytic orchid species, endemic to Ecuador.

<i>Cephalanthera damasonium</i> Species of orchid

Cephalanthera damasonium, the white helleborine, is a species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Cephalanthera damasonium is the type species of the genus Cephalanthera.

<i>Epidendrum calanthum</i> Species of plant

Epidendrum calanthum is a terrestrial reed-stemmed Epidendrum orchid from the montane Tropical rainforest of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and the West Indies.

<i>Epipactis dunensis</i> Species of orchid

Epipactis dunensis, commonly known as dune helleborine, is a species of plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Great Britain and Ireland. It typically grows to a height of 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) and the upper half of the flowering stalk is hairy. The plant has a long, fleshy rootstock and three to ten yellowish green, oval to lance-shaped leaves arranged in opposite rows along the flowering stem with up to 35 flowers. The three sepals are greenish, the two petals paler, the lower part of the labellum is boat-shaped and dark, chocolate brown with a transparent, whitish rim and the epichile is heart-shaped with a pointed tip. Flowering occurs from late June to mid-August, the flowers are mainly self-pollinated, and the fruit is a capsule, from which light, microscopic seeds are spread by the wind.

<i>Helleborus viridis</i> Species of plant

Helleborus viridis, commonly called green hellebore, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Central and Western Europe, including southern England. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

Caltha scaposa is a low, perennial herb with one or two yellow hermaphrodite saucer-shaped flowers. This marsh-marigold species belongs to the buttercup family, grows in moist alpine fields and is native to the eastern Himalayas and the mountains on the eastern margin of the Tibetan highland.

<i>Pedicularis sylvatica</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis sylvatica, commonly known as common lousewort, is a plant species in the genus Pedicularis. It is native to central and northern Europe where it grows on moist acidic soils, moorland, grassy heathland and the drier parts of marshes.

Hatherton Flush is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by the River Weaver in Hatherton, near Wybunbury, Cheshire, England. It is protected for its variety of wetland plants. Species found at the site include the locally rare plants marsh helleborine, marsh lousewort and tubular water dropwort. Hatherton Flush is the largest example of this kind of flush in the county. The site was assessed as being in an "unfavourable"/"recovering" condition in 2008.

References

  1. Govaerts, R. et.al. (2018) Plants of the world online: Epipactis palustris. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. Webb, D.A., Parnell, J. and Doogue, D. 1996. An Irish Flora Dundalgan Press Ltd, Dundalk. ISBN   0-85221-131-7
  4. Davies, Paul; Huxley, Anthony (1983). Wild Orchids of Britain and Europe. London: Chatto & Windus. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-7011-2642-1.
  5. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
  6. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families TDWG Geocodes" (PDF).
  7. C.Michael Hogan. 2011. "Sarmatic mixed forests". Topic ed. Sidney Draggan. Ed.-in-chief Cutler J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment
  8. Jacquemyn, H.; Waud, M.; Lievens, B.; Brys, R. (2016). "Differences in mycorrhizal communities between Epipactis palustris, E. Helleborine and its presumed sister species E. Neerlandica". Annals of Botany. 118 (1): 105–114. doi:10.1093/aob/mcw015. PMC   4934391 . PMID   26946528.
  9. Archibald William Smith A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins , p. 258, at Google Books
  10. Plantlife - Epipactis youngiana
  11. "Wildflower Society Online Report". Archived from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  12. Finnish Orchids
  13. Dictionary.com