Orthilia secunda (L.) House (Pyrolaceae), morph (Finland, Lohja, Jantoniemi, 1990). – Image: Harri Harmaja (scanned from dried specimen). – This plant with small, obtuse leaves resembles the almost circumboreal O. obtusata (Turcz.) H.Hara (O. secunda ssp. obtusata (Turcz.) Böcher) which is not known from Europe. O. secunda typically has taller and more elongate leaves with a subacute apex. The individuals of this morph that I have found were mostly sterile, but the few fertile ones detected had a style typical of Orthilia secunda s. str. (the taxa are told to differ in style length). This kind of plants have been met with in some places in southern Finland forming own stands, sometimes close to stands of typical O. secunda. Plants that appear intermediate have also been seen.
Created August 26, 2004.