Family |
Orchidaceae
Neotinea tridentata
(Scop.) R.M.Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W.Chase
Neotinea tridentata (Scop.) R.M.Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W.Chase
First published in Lindleyana 12: 122 (1997).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 338, historical regional treatment as Orchis tridentata var. commutata; Pl. CX, fig. 6)
Description
Synonyms: Orchis tridentata Scop. (basionym); Odontorchis tridentata (Scop.) D.Tyteca & E.Klein; Orchis tephrosanthos Vill., as listed by Kew.
Life-form & habit: Perennial tuberous geophyte. The ConservePlants species account describes a small, robust orchid.
Inflorescence & flowers: A dense oval inflorescence with up to 30 flowers, usually pale pink. Pink-veined upper sepals and petals form a hood above a pale, deeply lobed lip marked with red spots, according to Živa Fišer’s ConservePlants account of N. tridentata.
Historical regional morphology: Under Orchis tridentata var. commutata, Mouterde describes entire oblong tubers; basal oblong to broadly lanceolate leaves in a rosette; few sheathing stem leaves; a slender erect stem 35–40 cm tall; an initially rounded spike becoming ovoid-cylindrical; and a pale pink, purple-spotted, deeply three-lobed lip, with occasional white-flowered plants. The spur is cylindrical, shorter than the ovary and pressed against it. These details document his historical Lebanese/Syrian treatment, not a verified diagnosis of modern N. commutata.
Flowering and habitat
Flowering & habitat: Mouterde’s historical regional account gives late March to early May and varied terrain. The modern ConservePlants account lists open grassland, garrigue and open woodland. No numerical elevation is given in the cited Mouterde account.
Distribution
Historical Lebanese localities: Under Mouterde’s varietal name: Saïda; Beirut; Jall ed Dib; Nahr Beirut; Nahr el Kelb; Nahr Ibrahim; Tripoli; Abey; Aley; Jamhour; Broummana; Mar Roukhos; Beit Méri; Antoura; Rayfoun; Sannine; Rachaya; between Saïda and Nabatiyé. These historical specimens have not been individually reassessed here.
Historical Syrian localities: Under Mouterde’s varietal name: Ghmaissé, Sahyoun, Bhamra, Bassit and Kizil Dagh.
Recorded locations: Kfertay.
Native range: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Corsica, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Islands, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Crete, Crimea, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, NW Balkan Peninsula, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Sardinia, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Türkiye and Türkiye-in-Europe.
Additional descriptive source: Živa Fišer, Three-toothed orchid (Neotinea tridentata), ConservePlants species factsheet.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde (vol. 1, p. 338) treated the regional plants as Orchis tridentata var. commutata (Tod.) Rchb.f., citing O. commutata Tod., and described the variety’s range as eastern Mediterranean. Current Kew taxonomy instead accepts Neotinea commutata (Tod.) R.M.Bateman as a separate species native only to Sicily, and places that exact varietal name in its synonymy. Mouterde’s historical application in Lebanon and Syria must therefore be distinguished from the modern Sicilian taxon. This record is maintained as Neotinea tridentata, native to Lebanon-Syria according to Kew; the historical varietal name is not listed as a current synonym of N. tridentata. Historical regional details above are explicitly attributed to Mouterde and do not constitute independent redeterminations of his specimens.