Pianta di media taglia, alta 20-30(50) cm, con scapo robusto, diritto, a volte leggermente sinuoso, verde, più chiaro, tenuemente violaceo e poco pubescente alla base, con pubescenza biancastra in alto. Verso la base di solito 1 foglia orbicolare a base guainante, 3-4 cauline intermedie largamente ovate (la più grande 5,7 × 4,8 cm), acute, di color verde scuro (le inferiori a volte a base violacea), suborizzontali, con estremità di solito rivolte verso il basso, generalmente scanalate, con bordi leggermente ondulati; brattee (largamente) lanceolate, quelle inferiori più lunghe dei fiori (5 × 2,5 cm). Infiorescenza piuttosto densa, con (6)10-38 fiori di media taglia solitamente autogami, da orizzontali a penduli, normalmente semiaperti, campanulati. Tepali ovati e acuti, sepali verde-giallastri, spesso violacei nella metà basale, i laterali 7,5-12 × 4,5-6 mm, i petali 7-11 × 4-6 mm, verde-biancastri sfumati di rosa verso i bordi. Labello con giunzione ipo-epichilo piuttosto larga e a V profonda, con ampio colletto; ipochilo emisferico (4,5 × 4,5 mm), contenente poco nettare, profondo, bruno-verdastro chiaro all’esterno e rosso-bruno internamente; epichilo bianco-verdastro, sfumato di rosa, triangolare, più largo dell’ipochilo (5-6 × 4-5,5 mm), ad apice acuto e disteso in avanti; callosità variamente sviluppate con costola centrale più evidente roseo-violacea. Clinandrio e rostello ben sviluppati, viscidio presente a inizio antesi ma inefficace; stigma da rettangolare a ovato; antera brevemente peduncolata, con pollinii curvati sullo stigma e compatti solo all’apertura del fiore; ovario breve, verde-pallido con nervature prominenti, glabro, lungo come i fiori, con pedicello verde piuttosto corto.
Protologo di Stefan Hertel & Helmut Presser 2022:
Epipactis caramolica H. Presser & S. Hertel spec. nov., die Caramolo-Ständelwurz
Holotypus: Italien, Kalabrien, Val di Garga NW Saracena, alt. s. m. 950 m. UTM 33S 0593723/4408752 (WGS 84). 04.08.2020, leg. Helmut Presser. In herb. UNIBAS hinterlegt.
Description: Medium-sized plants, 20-30 (50) cm high. The stem is strong and rather thick, usually straight but sometimes slightly curved; green, glabrous and sometimes stained slightly violet at the base, pale green and lightly covered with white fluffy hairs higher up.
Usually, the plants have 0-1 almost orbicular leaves sheathing the stem base; 3-4 further leaves, ovate to long ovate, green, rather dull, held +/-horizontally; largest leaf 3.5- 5.7 cm long and 1.6- 4.8 cm wide. The petioles are green, sometimes stained slightly violet on the lowest leaves. The 0-2 bracts are up to 5 cm long and ca. 2.5 cm wide, lanceolate, acute.
The inflorescence covers one-third to half of the plant height; rather dense with (6) 10-38 flowers. The flowers are medium-sized, held horizontally to pendant, rarely facing upwards; the flowers are usually opened only slightly, but sometimes campanulate. The buds are yellowish-green, short, nearly orbicular and acute. The pedicel is green and short. The ovary is pale green with prominent veins, glabrous, as long as the flower at flowering time. The bracts are broad lanceolate to lanceolate, held +/-horizontally, same length as the flowers except the lowest one which can be significantly longer, 1.5-3.5 cm long.
The sepals are ovate, acute; the lateral ones are ca. 7.5-12 mm long and 4.5-6 mm wide; pale green to yellowish-green, sometimes stained violet in the basal half. The petals are whitish-green, slightly stained pink especially at the edges; ovate, 7-11 mm long and 4-6 mm wide. The hypochile is 4-5 mm x 4-5 mm, orbicular; deeply basin-shaped; whitish to greenish-brown on the outside, red-brown to dark brown on the inside; containing only a little nectar. The epichile is a little broader than the hypochile, triangular, acute; the tip pointing straight forward; ca. 5-6 mm x 4,5-5 mm; white to greenish, stained pink. The basal lateral bosses are weakly to strongly developed. The epichile also has a distal rib shaped central boss which is sometimes stained pink to violet clearly distinguishing it from the remainder of the epichile. The connection between epichile and hypochile is usually in the form of a broad, deep V-shaped incision with a broad collar and which is usually short but can be sometimes rather long. The clinandrium and rostellum are fully developed; the pollinia are slightly curved over the stigma by a short stalk of the anther. The viscidium is visible when the flower first opens but never functional. The stigma is rectangular to ovate. The pollinia are generally very crumbly when the flower opens. Sterile plants are unknown.
⬆︎after S. Hertel & H. Presser, 2021: Weitere Erkenntnisse zur Vielfalt der Epipactis-Arten im südlichen Italien. – Ber. Arbeitskrs. Heim. Orch. 38 (1): 137.
