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.: June 12. 2010
Lat.: 46.32068 Long.: 13.51893
Code: Bot_429/2010_IMG0738
Picture file name: Dactylorhiza-fuchsii-mutant_raw_53.
Habitat: riverbank, overgrown, calcareous, colluvial ground, young Salix eleagnos, Picea abies and Alnus sp. dominant; among tall herbs; flat terrain; mostly in shade; elevation 350 m (1.1500 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 8-10 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region.
Substratum: soil.
Place: Right bank of river Soča, near Podklopca settlement, downstream of Bovec; East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC.
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: Canon G11, 6.1-30mm/f2.8-4.5