Gymnadenia pyrenaica



Scientific Name: Gymnadenia pyrenaica. (Syn. G. odoratissima var pyrenaica.)

English Name:

French Name: Orchis des Pyrénées (= 'Pyrenean Orchid'). Also Gymnadénie des Pyrénées.

5 Key Characters:
  • Variable in size, more robust than G. odoratissima, but with smaller flowers like those of G. conopsea.
  • Eperon (spur at the back of the flower) longer than the flower tube, very curved and very fine at the tip.
  • Very scented.
  • Pink flowers.

Lookalikes: G. odoratissima (which has an eperon shorter than the flower tube, blunt and hardly curving).

Habitat: Short grassland on calcareous hillsides in full sun. On the slopes of the Vienne, in the Touraine du Sud at Chaumussay and Boussay, and also at Ferrière-Larçon and other places, one encounters significant colonies of plants which by their appearance, resemble something in between G. conopsea and G. odoratissima. In 2012 these plants were formally identified as G. pyrenaica.

Flowering Period:

Status: In the light of observations and recent studies, it looks as if most of the populations in the Touraine of G. odoratissima must be attributed instead to another name. Protected in Centre.

Recorded by Loire Valley Nature:



No comments:

Post a Comment