NOTE: Based on a message received from orchid specialist Mr. Wolfram Foelsche my initial determination of the species shown on the pictures of this observation (namely Nigritella widderi Teppner & E. Klein) is wrong. Nigritella widderi doesn't grow on Mangart's flats. According to him the pictures show Nigritella bicolor W. Foelsche. Some orchid experts consider the name Nigritella bicolor W. Foelsche synonymous with Nigritella miniata (Crantz) Janch..
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Nigritella widderi Teppner & Klein, syn.: Nigritella rubra ssp. widderi (Teppner & Klein) Baumann & Lorenz, Gymnadenia widderi (Teppner & Klein) Teppner & Klein
Widder's Nigritella, DE: Widders Männertreu, Widders Kohlröschen
Slo.: Widderjeva murka
Dat.: July 1. 2015
Lat.: 46.44176 Long.: 13.64343
Code: Bot_897/2015_IMG8786
Habitat: alpine grassland, open almost flat terrain, calcareous, skeletal ground, full sun, exposed to direct rain, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 0 - 2 deg C, elevation 1.980 m (6.500 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.
Substratum: soil.
Place: Mt. Mangart region, Mangart's flats, west of the beginning of the terminal loop of Mt. Mangart tool road, East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC
Comment: Nigritella widderi was first described as a new taxon thirty years ago in 1985 in calcareous Northeast Alps in Austria. In Slovenia it was first found in Julian Alps south of Mt. Triglav, 2.863 m in 2011 (Ref.: ) . Up to now a few other stands have been found. To distinguish it from other red blooming Nigritella species is not always simple. The important typical traits are purple pink flowers at the bottom of the inflorescence, which are paler than the red ones on the top. The inflorescence looks like having two colors. Also dark purple red bracts, which can be seen among the flowers, are significant. The inflorescence is rather short and never distinctly cylindrical. There are also tiny morphological differences in rostellum, but it is almost impossible to observe them in the field and without a good hand lens or a microscope. In addition, one has to pick the flowers to make observations, which is prohibited, because the species is protected.
In 2007 and 2012 I found several of these nice plants at the same place of Mangart's flats as in this case. At that time I determined them as Nigritella rubra. Namely, the taxonomy of genus Nigritella in Slovenia was very simple some time ago. We knew only three species: Nigritella rubra (plants with red flowers), Nigritella nigra (plants with dark red to almost black flowers) and endemic Nigritella rhellicani (with more or less pink flowers), which grows only in Kamnik Alps. Later Dr. W. Foelsche (Ref.:7) recognized my find on Mangart's flats published on the net as an example of a newly defined (in 2010) species Nigritella bicolor. However, the taxon has not been fully recognized and today most authors consider Nigritella bicolor Foelsche as a synonym of Nigritella miniata (Crantz) Janch. (Ref.: 3, Ref.: 8). Anyway, the latest Slovenian literature (Ref.3) lists six species and subspecies of genus Nigritella for my country. Five are of some shade of red. Distinguishing between them with certainty is difficult and, frankly, a too hard a nut for me.
Only a single plant in bloom has been found at this place in 2015.
Protected according to: Uredba o zavarovanih prostoživečih rastlinskih vrstah, poglavje A, Uradni list RS, št. 46/2004 (Regulation of protected wild plants, chapter A, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 46/2004), (2004).
Ref.:
(1) H.Baumann, S. Kuenkele, R.Lorenz, Orchideen Europas, Ulmer (2006), p 138.
(2) H.Kretzschmar, Die Orchideen Deutschlands und angrenzenden Lander, Quelle Meyer (2008), p 188.
(3) B.Dolinar, Kukavičevke v Sloveniji (Orchidaceae of Slovenia) (in Slovenian), Pipinova Knjiga (2015), p 125.
(4) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 1116.
(5) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 1044.
(6) I. Dakskobler, B. Dolinar, B. Zupan, R. Iskra, P. Strgar, A. Trnkoczy, Nigritella widderi Tepner and E.Klein, a new species in the flora of Slovenia, Folia biologica et geologica, Academia Scientiarum et Artum Slovenica, 53/1-2 (2012), p 25.
(7) W. Foelsche, Nigritella bicolor, ein neues apomiktisches Kohlröschen der Alpen, des Dinarischen Gebirges und der Karpaten. Journal Europäischer Orchideen (2010), 42 (1), pp 31– 82.
(8) G. Perazza, R. Lorenz, Le orchidee dell'Italia nordorientale, atlante corologico e guida al riconoscimento, CIV pubblicazione del Museo Civico di Rovereto, Edizioni Osiride, Rovereto (2013).
