Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Druce) Soó (mutant); syn.: Dactylorhiza fuchsii ssp. fuchsii (Druce) Soó, Dactylorhiza maculata (L.) Soo ssp. fuchsii (Druce) Hyl., Orchis fuchsii Druce
Family: Orchidaceae
EN: Spotted Orchid, DE: Fuchs' Fingerwurz, Fuchs' Knabenkraut, Fuchs' Fingerknabenkraut
Slo.: Fuchsova prstasta kukavica, Fuchsova pegasta prstasta kukavica
Dat.: July 19. 2014
Lat.: 46.35877 Long.: 13.70526
Code: Bot_727/2013_DSC6737
Picture file name: Dactylorhiza-fuchsii-mutant_raw_60.
Habitat: riverbank, calcareous, colluvial ground overgrowen with young forest, Salix eleagnos, Ostrya carpinifolia, Corylus avellana and Picea abies dominant; among tall herbs; flat terrain; mostly in shade, humid ground and air; elevation 540 m (1.770 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7- 9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region.
Substratum: soil.
Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soča and Trenta; right bank of river Soča, at the upstream entrance in the Matevž's gorge, downstream of Otokar farmhouse, Trenta 4; East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia.
Comment (pertains to Flickr album Dactylorhiza-fuchsii-mutant): One of the most common beauty among wild orchids in Slovenia is Dactylorhiza fuchsii. It is a tall, stout plant with long, cylindrical inflorescence growing in all kind of habitats and type of ground, on wet as well as on quite dry places, in forests, meadows, marches, grassland, river shores, path sides, young alluvial deposits, in shade and in full sun. This is probably also the reason of its great variability. Particularly colour and pattern of dots and lines on its perianth vary widely as well as the colour of the perianth itself. It can be almost white to nearly dark purple-red, but mostly pink. Leaves are normally distinctly brown spotted, but not always. Stalk is slender, strait and single. However, sometimes one can find plants which have split stalk, usually split in two, rarely in three. This is a sign that the plant is a mutant, that means with an abnormal DNA in its cells. Causes for mutations, a very important phenomenon in evolution, are numerous. High energy electromagnetic radiation like, ultraviolet light, x-rays, radioactivity, are one of the most important of them.
Pictures show three such plants, all of them found in Trenta valley in a 5 years time period. One mutant appeared right in the Alpine Garden Juliana (part of Natural History Museum of Slovenia). Of cause, it immediately become traditional 'The plant of the week'.
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 37.
(2) H. Kretzschmar, Die Orchideen Deutschlands und angrenzenden Lander, Quelle Meyer (2008), p 82.
(3) B. Dolinar, Kukavičevke v Sloveniji (Orchidaceae of Slovenia) (in Slovenian), Pipinova Knjiga (2015), p 41.
(4) O. Sebald, S. Seybold, G. Philippi, A. Wӧrz, Eds., Die Farn und Blutenpflanzen Baden-Wurttembergs, Band 8., Verlag Eugen Ulmer (1998), p 368.
(5) P. Delforge, Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, (3. edition), A&C Black, London 2006, pp 228
(6) AHO Bayern (Hrsg.), Die Orchideen Bayerns – Verbreitung, Gefardung, Schutz, Muchen (2014), p 110.
Camera: Nikon D700 /Nikkor Micro 105mm/f2.8