Limodorum abortivum “albiflora” 

Limodorum abortivum: Albiflora form (left; Photo: N.Griebl) and common form (right)
Limodorum abortivum: Albiflora form (left; Photo: N.Griebl) and common form (right)

Limodorum abortivum is one of the rarest albiflora forms of orchids. Sometimes, literature is mentioning the existence of white flowering plants, e.g. Horst Kretzschmar states in his new “Die Orchideen Deutschlands und angrenzender Laender” (Wiebelsheim 2008), p.163: “In Southern Europe, there is a broad variation of flower colours, from white to purple to red, these colours have not been observed in Germany up to now, though.”  Norbert Griebl in Austria has sent me a photo of an albiflora form he found in northern Greece. He observed that the plant has a green stem and green sheathing leaves, “which prooves that Limodorum is not totally living saprophytic” (=myco-heterotrophic).

Compared with the violet stem colour of the regular form the green colour of the stem is indead striking. The existent chlorophyll is obviously covered by dominant anthocyanins. When these purple pigments are absent – as it is the case with the albiflora form – the green chlorophyll colour becomes clearly visible. A study published in 2006 (M. Girlanda, M. A. Selosse, D. Cafasso, F. Brilli, S. Delfine, R. Fabbian, S. Ghignone, P. Pinelli, R. Segreto, F. Loreto, S. Cozzolino and S. Perotto: Inefficient photosynthesis in the Mediterranean orchid Limodorum abortivum is mirrored by specific association to ectomycorrhizal Russulaceae. In: Molecular Ecology 15, 2006, S. 491-504) recognizes the existence of chlorophyll but stated that Limodorum abortivum’s photosynthesis “was found to be insufficient to compensate for respiration in adult plants”. It would be interesting to know how the albiflora orchid is behaving in this regard and if it is also dependent on nutrition by fungi.

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