Four-Spotted Orchid
Orchis quadripuntata owes its name to the four little spots at the base of the labellum. With a height of only 10 to 30 cm Orchis quadripunctata is a small and slender plant. The stem is growing out of a rosette of 2 to 6 foliage leaves, which can be spotted or unspotted. 1 or 2 leaves sheath the lower part of the stem. The cylindrical inflorescence has 5 to 30 flowers, loosely arranged. The spur is almost as long as the ovary, very thin and horizontally spreaded or bent downwards. The ovary is sheathed by a small bract. Only the two petals form a little hood. The rounded sepals are spreaded horizontally and upwards. The labellum is three-lobed. The two pollinia have their own sticky plates, the flowers are pollinated by insects.
Taxonomic discussion
Orchis quadripunctata was first described by the Italian scientist Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo (1739-1799), cited by Michele Tenore in his Flora Napolitana (1812). H. Kretzschmar et al. view Orchis quadripunctata as belonging to the section Pusillae of the sub-genus Masculae. There is still some discussion about the denomination of the plants found in Cyprus, which are probably Orchis anatolica influenced by Orchis quadripunctata.
White colour of flowers
The flowers of Orchis quadripunctata can be rose, pink or purple-red. The first taxon for the white-flowered plants was published in 1861 by Victor Raulin (1815-1905) as Orchis brancifortii var. albiflora – the French geologist and botanist comprised Orchis brancifortii together with Orchis quadripunctata. Later Károly Rezsö Soó (1903-1980) followed with Orchis quadripunctata lusus albiflora (1928) as well as Joseph Edgard De Langhe (1907-1998) and Renée D’Hose (1925-2000) with Orchis quadripunctata f. albiflora (1980). Raulin’s error was corrected in 1989 by Chryssoula and Antoine Alibertis with a description of Orchis quadripunctata var. albiflora, with a reference to Raulin: „comb. et stat. nov. (Raulin)“. Alibertis (“4 maculas ad basim labelli gerens”) as well as H. Kretzschmar et al. mention that this form preserves the colour in the 4 points of the lip. But there are also plants with totally white flowers, without the coloured points. Locations of the white-flowered forms are mentioned for Italy and Greece.
Habitat, bloom and distribution
Orchis quadripunctata is growing on meadows and pastures, as well as in macchia habitats or in bright forests, up to 1600 m. Bloom is from March to June. The species can be found in Southern Italy (with the exception of Sicily), in the coastal regions of the Balkan and in Greecee including the island of Crete.