Variety in Green-flowered Helleborine.

[Dorts]

Over the last couple of months many fine photo's of the Green-flowered Helleborine - Epipactis phyllanthes, have ben posted in the Orchid Gallery. What these pics. show is the great variety of forms found within this species, and none more so than the most recent posted by 'leifus'. In fact never have I seen a plant of this species with so much colour, ( where did you photograph it leifus?)

Up until the latter half of the 20th.C., Epipactis phyllanthes had been split into over half a dozen sub-species. But as more and more new sites for this orchid were found, spreading over much of England, it became clear that each group of plants were often quite distinct in colour and form. It was becoming almost impossible to atribute a sub-specific name to each, and so, inevitably, they were eventually all 'lumped' together under the one name of Phyllanthes; this name having been derived from Phyllis Wood in West Sussex, the place where the first plant was found.

Epipactis phllanthes sensu stricto. should look something like this-


All parts green with the labellum being almost identical to the two petals.

In one of the more extreme forms the flowers are cleistogamous, that is they never open and are self pollinated within the closed bud.

Plants of differing forms may be found growing quite close together.
Some may be robust, growing to over 30cm and with maybe a dozen florets, while others are diminutive, weakly and under 10cm with only one or two florets.
Some are like small Broad-leaved Helleborine, (leifus's plant), while at the other extreme is the type I have shown, yet they all share those distinctive pendulous florets, hence one of its previous names of 'Pendulous-flowered Helleborine'.

Green-flowered Helleborine is only locally common in Central Southern England, elsewhere it is still a rare plant.

With the 'lumping' together under the one banner of E. phyllanthes, the fun of trying to put plants into their sub-specific groups may have been lost, but if ever there was an oppotunity for a fresh look at a plant species, it is should surely be the Green-flowered Helleborine.
Dorts

[the young hunter]

Hi Dorts,

Not had much experience with Epip. phyllanthes myself and I've only come across var. pendula - once on the Cumbrian dunes and once this year at an incredible Lincolnshire site where there were about 60 plants this year, all being very robust (40cm+ high!) some with 3 spikes to a plant. At the same site was var. viridiflora of the Broad-leaved helleborine (plants lacking anthocyanin). Great place!

I always find the self pollinating species are by far the most interesting though.

On another note, have you been on Birdforum Dorts? There's much more focus on British orchids with many more like-minded 'orchideers' who are mostly well known figures in the Hardy Orchid Society (of which I'm sure you are a member), hence there tends to be much more discussion and information sharing, including running updates on orchid appearances and flowering times across the country.
I'm currently waiting for a reply to a thread I've posted on there about 'var. youngiana' so if you join, maybe you could give me your opinions!

Mike

[Dorts]

Mike.
Thanks for the info on Birdforum. No I havn't been on that site, it sounds interesting and I'll certainly have a look. I am also not a member of the Hardy Orchid Society, in fact of any oganisation or society other than the BSBI of which I've been a member since 1976, though I am very familiar with the Hardy Orchid Society. I enjoy WAB because of the broad spectrum of plants topics that are discussed.

My study of the British Orchids have been just a part of my study of the Brtish flora (and fauna) generally. I have always believed in 'generalising' before 'specialising'. If I have specialised in anything, it would be the ecology of the chalk, both grassland and woodland.

Orchids, being the most evolved plants on our planet of course have a special place, if for nothing else it is for their extraordinary colours, forms and life history's, but when seeking out our great orchid rarities I have always kept one keen eye on the other plants around.

I was fortunate to be shown the famous Lady's Slipper plant in Yorkshire by one of the poeple who first found it. And as lovely as that orchid is, I got an even greater pleasure that day by finding my first Yokshire Milkwort and Limestone Polypody Fern growing close by!

The one thing I know you will agree, is that without our search for those sometimes elusive orchids, we would have seen far less of Britain. Orchid hunters are a special breed, and my years spent with them was an unforgetable time of my life.
Dorts.

[the young hunter]

Hi Dorts,

I do certainly recommend a look at the site.

I too am interested in our general flora and started out 12 years ago photographing and logging every single species I saw and keeping it all in gigantic albums but it look me a few years before I saw my first orchid (a Southern Marsh at a local nature reserve) and since then I've slowly tended towards them because, as you say, they do represent an incredibly diverse family that often occupy the most rare specialised habitats around. I still get a kick from finding other plant species - just today I was photographing Meadow Saffron (such a beautiful species!).
I've spent a lot of time in Bulgaria too where the Eastern European element of flora merges with the Western in completely undistrubed Beech forest and meadowland - incredible wildlife and orchid flora not bound by fences or gates!

Anyway, I still have the rarest of the rare to find, so rare I'm not sure it's just made up, and you've seen it! The Ghost hunt continues.....

Mike

[leifus]

I photographed the one in the Gallery near where I live. There were quite a few of them, all like this, and 15-20cm tall. I too was surprised by the colouring but I found these at a well known wiltshire site in 2008 which are also have a lot of purple on them:





see what you think,

Leif

[the young hunter]

Interesting, Green-flowered are usually just green all over only with a tinge of pink on the hypochile. Never seen var. phyllanthes, which is what your plants are (lip indistinguishable from the petals and sepals). Nice find!

Mike

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by leifus

I photographed the one in the Gallery near where I live. There were quite a few of them, all like this, and 15-20cm tall. I too was surprised by the colouring but I found these at a well known wiltshire site in 2008 which are also have a lot of purple on them:
see what you think,
Leif

Leifus, your plant illustrates perfectly my previous comment about how phyllanthes can vary so much in a relatively small area.

My first observation on these Wiltshie plants is the unusualy high amount of anthocyanin in the flowers, not at all typical. This plant, as Mike has said, conforms to phyllanthes; that is except for the red colouration and the rather larger than normal reproductive parts.

I'm sure like me Mike, once you have got that annoyingly elusive Ghost out of the way, you can spend more time on the orchid varieties and hybrids, which I have found emmensly rewarding.
Dorts.

[the young hunter]

Originally Posted by Dorts

I'm sure like me Mike, once you have got that annoyingly elusive Ghost out of the way, you can spend more time on the orchid varieties and hybrids, which I have found emmensly rewarding.
Dorts.

That's right, I'm particularly interested by variants such as those amongst Bee orchids and the Epipactis species but just can't justify long journeys to my mom to find them!

Mike

[Dorts]

Mike.
As you have no doubt noticed, the Bee Orchid is one of our most variable species, probably only matched by Common Spotted.
Many types have been given sub-specific or variatal status. But some people have gone further and split them into 'races'.
I always look closely at the two lateral petals as they can be as variable as the lip, as in shape, length and colour adding even more variety to the species. Likewise the dorsal sepal, which can be horizontal or vertical.

I love extremes, and my most extreme plant to date had 'three stems'* with an average of 24 flowers per stem.
(* we carefully dug around the plant to be sure it was'nt three plants).

On this particular day, at this particular site in Oxfordshire in the early 1980's, we estimated there were 25,000 plants on two acres and every one was identical in form!!
We went back three days later to show some friends only to find they had all been mown down.
Dorts.

[the young hunter]

I think I probably would've fainted! Dear me, Bee orchids often seem to be the victims of uninformed council grass mowers/hedge trimmers!

I know exactly what you mean about the variability of Bees though. I found a site at Akrotiri salt marsh in Cyprus where not only did the Bee orchids grow on a low lying salt marsh amongst estuarine grasses but about 60% of the population were var. bicolor - a superb and unusual sight (presumably clones as a result of self pollination). I also found a stand of 15 50cm tall plants each with around 20 flowers per stem - one had a mutant floret that looked like 3 flowers melted together! Not to mention where the Serapias bergonii, Serapias levantina, Ophrys mammosa and Orchis fragrans surrounding them, but they were boring

Mike