This photo of a totally white-flowered Nigritella carpatica was taken in the region of Bucovina in Northern Romania. End of June, the author of the book The Orchids of Romania, Nora De Angelli, has seen this Nigritella carpatica f. albiflora near of Sulița. The flowers of this rare species in the region between Ukraine and Romania are mostly bright pink to whitish. Below there is a typical plant on the right. Up to now, a totally white-flowered plant was not known.
Nigritella carpatica is diploid and has a sexual reproduction – in these characteristics the species is similar to Nigritella rhellicani. The species is characterized by very narrow leafs and small flowers with a relatively narrow spur. The flowers of other plants at this location show gradually changing color hues. This rare species probably has a gradual loss of pigments with smooth transitions to the special albiflora form.
