Epipactis x schmalhausenii Richter 1890 = Epipactis helleborine x Epipactis atrorubensFamily: OrchidaceaeEN: Schmalhausen's Helleborine? DE: Hybride zwischen Braunroter- und Breitblttriger Stndelwurz, Schmalhausen StndelwurzSlo.: Schalhausenova movirnicaDat.: Aug. 3. 2020Lat.: 46.36009 Long.: 13.70225 (WGS84)Code: Bot_1322/2020_DSC05026Habitat: Fagus sylvatica forest edge with intermixed Ostrya carpinifolia, Fraxinus ornus and Picea abies; slightly inclined mountain slope, southeast aspect; calcareous, skeletal ground; relatively dry and warm place; mostly in shade; elevation 595 m (1.950 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soa and Trenta, right bank of river Soa, Na Melu place near cottage Trenta 2b, left side of the trail from Trenta 2b to abandoned farmhouse Strgulc, Soa 47, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC.Comment (relates to the album Epipactis x schmalhausenii): Species in the genus Helleborine (Epipactis) know little genetic barriers, hence hybrids are a frequent phenomenon. They are mostly fertile and further back-crossing with their parents or among them can occur. They may inherit traits from either of their parent unchanged or they display traits, which are somewhere in between of the traits of their parents. Their appearances may therefore look very differently.The parents of Epipactis x schmalhausenii, the oldest described hybrid in the genus in 1898, are Broadleaves helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) and Purple helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens), both are very variable plants. No wonder, distinguishing between a somewhat 'unusual' parent plant and a hybrid is in many cases not a simple task. One obviously has to take into account a set of traits, which most reliably distinguish both parents, inspect the plant found carefully and determine, which traits pertains to each of the parents and which fall in between. A hybridization index can be then calculated (see Ref. 6. for the methodology). If it falls clearly away of both parents, somewhere close to the middle between them, the plant may be declared a hybrid. The plant shown here looked from a far like a somewhat unusual Epipactis helleborine, but two traits excited my special interest: too conspicuously red color of the flowers and a pleasant smell of them, both traits a sign of potential hybridization with Epipactis atrorubens. I compared 10 traits of the plant with the corresponding traits of the population of the supposed parents. The resultant index of hybridization confirmed that the plant is in fact a hybrid about to two thirds Epipactis helleborine and one third Epipactis atrorubens. Some traits haven't deviate from Epipactis helleborine, namely morphology of the flowers: relation of the width of the epichile compared to the width of the hypochile and the transition between both, relation of the distance between the tips of sepals compared to the petals, surface structure of the bosses at the base of the epichile (almost glabrous compared to distinctly wrinkled with Epipactis atrorubens), stem color (green compared to reddish-purple with Epipactis atrorubens), others were as with Epipactis atrorubens (flower smell, for example). Five of the traits lie in between both parents, among them the shape of the lowest stem leaves (see Fig.7 left: E. helleborine, center: intermediate case, right: E. atrorubens) and color of the flower (see Fig.6 left: E. helleborine, center: intermediate case, right: E. atrorubens).Presented observation of this quite rare hybrid seems to be the third in Slovenia (to my present knowledge) and the first in the Trenta valley and MTB quadrant 9648/1.Protected according to: Uredba o zavarovanih prostoiveih rastlinskih vrstah, poglavje A, Uradni list RS, t. 46/2004 (Regulation of protected wild plants, chapter A, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 46/2004), (2004).Ref.:(1) H. Kretzschmar, Die Orchideen Deutschlands und angrenzenden Lander, Quelle Meyer (2008), p 257.(2) B. Dolinar, Kukavievke v Sloveniji (Orchidaceae of Slovenia) (in Slovenian), Pipinova Knjiga (2015), p 172.(3) S. Knkele, Orchidaceae, in O. Sebald, S. Seybold, G. Philippi, A. Wrz, Eds., Die Farn und Blutenpflanzen Baden-Wurttembergs, Band 8., Verlag Eugen Ulmer (1998), p 441.(4)
www.guenther-blaich.de/hyb.php?hy=atrhel1&abs=HYB%20a... (accessed Oct. 11. 2020) (5)
www.pharmanatur.com/France/Epipactis%20x%20schmalhausenii... slike (accessed Oct. 11. 2020)(6) W. Adamowski, Phenotypic variation of Epipactis helleborine x E. atrorubens hybrids in anthropogenic conditions, Acta Soc. Bot. Poloniae (1995), Vol. 64, 3, pp 303-312
