Limodorum abortivum (Linne) Swartz 1799 Photo courtesy of Pascal Pernot and His Orchids of France and Europe

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Common Name The Crippled Limodorum [Refers to the partially opening flower]

Flower Size 2" [5 cm]

A small to large sized, cold to cool growing terrestrial orchid found in Portugal, Spain, France, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Eastern Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Iran in part sun on cool calcareous substrates in woodland fringes and short grasslands at elevations to 2300 meters with a violet to brownish stem enveloped by bract-like leaves for it's entire length until the inflorescence also carrying bracts that are slightly longer than the ovary that blooms in spring and early summer on an erect, 4 to 13.2" [10 to 33 cm] long, 4 to 25 flowered, racemose inflorescence.

Synonyms Centrosis abortiva Swartz 1814; Epipactis abortiva All. 1785; Ionorchis abortiva (L.) Beck 1890; Jonorchis abortiva Beck 1890; Limodorum generale E.H.L.Krause 1905; Limodorum sphaerochilos Spreng. 1827; Limodorum sphaerolabium Viv. 1825; Neottia abortiva Clairv. 1811; *Orchis abortiva Linne 1753; Serapias abortiva Scop 1772

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 No 9 1969; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 4 1980 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 50 No 10 1981 photo; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle east Delforge 2005

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