Gymnadenia bicolor

Gymandenia bicolor is a species of orchid occurring in the Eastern Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Carpathian Mountains. It is very similar to Gymnadenia miniata and often seen as a variation and not a separate species.

Description

Gymandenia bicolor looks very similar to Gymnadenia miniata but is differentiated by usually having brighter flowers at the base and sepals that are wider than the petals. The middle sepal is usually bent downwards and very noticeable. The lip is less curled than with miniata.

Taxonomy

Plants now considered Gymnadenia bicolor were originally placed into Gymnadenia rubra by Wettstein in 1889. Foelsche split it into a separate species Nigritella bicolor in 2010 and Foelsche&Gerbaud moved it to genus Gymnadenia in 2011.