One of the most beautiful and rarest European orchids is called elder orchid. Discovering them in the wild is a sensation. In the following portrait, get to know all the enchanting attributes of a fascinating plant species.
What is special about elderberry orchid?
The elder orchid is a rare European orchid that thrives in poor, humus-rich mountain meadows without lime or nutrients. The plant has a herbaceous habit, a height of 10 to 30 cm, flowers in red or yellow and is endangered by intensive agriculture.
Visual appearance
Natural occurrences of orchids are by no means limited to the tropical regions of the world. The beautiful flowers also thrive in these latitudes, as the elder orchid proves. Grace can be recognized by these attributes:
- herbaceous habit with a height of 10 to 30 centimeters
- Rich spiked flowers up to 15 centimeters high in red or yellow
- typical orchid flowers with folded sepals on the sides
- Lips with red dots or bow drawing
- lanceolate, pointed leaves in rich green
- Flowering period from May to June
Since the flowers appear either red or yellow, people like to call them Adam and Eve. Color mixtures are rather the exception. With their magnificent flowers, orchids attract bumblebees as pollinators. However, the busy insects are not rewarded for their work because they search in vain for nectar inside the flowers.
Narrowly limited distribution area
While true elderberry species are among the most common shrubs in the wild, the location requirements of elderberry orchid are very specific. The orchid family avoids calcareous and nutrient-rich soils. They only settle where they encounter poor, slightly humus-rich mountain meadows. In the mountains, orchids climb up to a height of 2,000 meters as long as the soil is made of primary rock.
Intensive agriculture is now restricting the habitat of elder orchid to such an extent that the magical flower only thrives sporadically. It was therefore added to the Red List of Endangered Species in 2010. It is therefore forbidden under pen alty of law to pick or dig up an elder orchid.
Tips & Tricks
The elder orchid owes its name to the scent, which is reminiscent of a flowering elder bush. If you smell elderflowers in a mountain meadow without any black elderberry in sight, you should look down. With a little luck, you may enjoy one of the very rare encounters with the elder orchid.
