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Serapias-istriaca_21

Serapias istriaca Perko, syn.: Serapias neglecta subsp. apulica Landw.

Istria Tongue Orchid, DE: Istrischer Zungenstendel

Slo.: istrski ralovec, CR: istarska kukavica

 

Dat.: May 17. 2012

Lat.: 44.78839 Long.: 13.90592

Code: Bot_618/2012_DSC3461

 

Habitat: : Stony grassland; sandy, skeletal soil, calcareous ground; open, almost flat terrain, full sun, average temperatures 13-14 deg C, average precipitation 800-900 mm/year, elevation 15 m (50 feet), Mediterranean phytogeographical region.

 

Substratum: soil.

 

Place: East of the west dirt road along Kamenjak peninsula, near west coast of it, north of Polje bay, Istria, Croatia EC.

 

Comment: Species of the genus Serapias are essentially plants of Mediterranean Sea region. Among them Serapias istriaca represents a rare, narrow-endemic named by Istria peninsula in Croatia, northwest Adriatic sea. Recent morphometric as well as molecular research showed that it is a well-established species (Ref.:2). It flourishes only on south part of Istria peninsula and neighboring island Lošinj and on the sea shore of northwest Greece.

 

Species of genus Serapias are strange, almost bizarre looking orchids. To recognize plants of this genus is simple because of their unusual shape of flowers, however, to distinguish them to species level is a much more difficult task. Serapias istriaca doesn't grow in Slovenian Adriatic Sea shore region, so the only our member of this genus remains Serapias vomeraca and also this plant is a rare find in Slovenia.

 

Ref.:

(1) hirc.botanic.hr/fcd/DetaljiFrame.aspx?IdVrste=27626&t...

(2) V. Hršak, S. Brana, Z. Sedlar, I. Pejić, Morphometric and molecular (RAPD) analysis of six Serapias taxa from Croatia, J. Biologia, Vol. 66, 1. (2011), pp 55-63.

link.springer.com/article/10.2478%2Fs11756-010-0132-5

 

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Uploaded on November 10, 2015
Taken on May 17, 2012