Epipactis helleborine | |||||||||||||||||
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Epipactis helleborine is a cool growing terrestrial orchid commonly found in the wild. The orchid is native to Europe and Asia.
Description[]
The plant blooms in mid to late summer, and is found usually in areas of indirect sunlight. The plant usually becomes dormant during the winter and spring. It grows to 20–80 cm tall, rarely up to a metre, with four to ten leaves arranged spirally on the stem. The flowers are produced on a spike, each flower around 2.5 cm in diameter, pale green to whitish or pinkish in colour, and usually has a lavender tint on sepals.
Distribution[]
Epipactis helleborine is found in most of Europe except for the far north of Scandinavia, and in Asia in Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Pakistan, western Himalayas and Bhutan in woodland area and near streams at 0 to 2500 metres elevation.
Culture[]
The plant usually grows in calcareous, sandy or clay soils and will grow in cool temperatures. Plants rely on rhizomes for survival which are underground. The plant will remain dormant in winter. Plant growth is somewhat correlated to rainfall. Roots rely on mycorrhiza fungus to grow. It has become an invasive species in forested areas of the United States and Canada
Variants[]
Naming[]
Common Names: Brede wespenorchis (Nederlands), Breitblättrige Stendelwurz (Deutsch), Broad-leaved Helleborine (English), Épipactis à larges feuilles (Français), Heleborina de hojas anchas (Español), Дремлик зимовниковый (русский), 火烧兰 (中文)
Synonyms[]
- Serapias helleborine L. (1753) (Basionymum)
- Serapias helleborine var. latifolia L.
- Serapias latifolia (L.) Huds.
- Helleborine latifolia (L.) Moench
- Epipactis latifolia (L.) All. (1785)
- Helleborine helleborine (L.) Druce (1925)
Resources[]
Epipactis helleborine shows strong mycorrhizal preference towards ectomycorrhizal fungi with contrasting geographic distributions in Japan
Selfing potential in Epipactis palustris , E. helleborine and E. atrorubens (Orchidaceae)