Distribution of the species
A very rare species for Mt. Paggaio, found in a limited number of sites, in the eastern, southern and western parts. It has been observed in road sides and openings in scrubs, where Quercus coccifera is the dominant shrub species.
Description of the species (biological and ecological features)
Its population size is very small and this is why it is classified among the rarest species of Mt. Paggaio. It is a robust plant, up to 100 cm tall. Its basal leaves are large, gradually drying towards the end of the flowering period. Its inflorescence is elongated, cylindrical, composing of 10-40 (-50) large flowers. The sepals are oval-lanceolate and the petals linear to narrowly rhomboidal. The lip is 3-lobed, white in the center, blotched with purple spots. Its margins are more intensely colored (lilac-brownish or deep purplish and rarely greenish). The middle lobe of the lip is characteristically large (45-90 mm), while the tip is usually separated by a deep notch. On the back side of the flower there is a spur. It took its name from the special shape of its lip. The name of the genus comes from the words strap (himanto-) and tongue (-glossum) and is due to the particularly elongated middle lobe of their lip. It is usually found in well-lit habitats (openings, scrubs), less often in hornbeam or oak forests. It is observed almost always in isolated individuals; it never forms large colonies. We will see it flowering from May to July, depending on the altitude.
Both its impressive habit and the way it is distributed (in isolated individuals) make it particularly vulnerable.
Conservation status
It is listed among the plant species of the Presidential Degree 67/81 (F.E.K. 23/Α/30-01-1981).
Conservation state
It is listed among the plant species of the Presidential Degree 67/81 (F.E.K. 23/Α/30-01-1981) “On the protection of native flora and fauna and defining a procedure for coordinating and controlling their research”, also as “Other Important Plant Species of Greece” by the 92/43/EEC Directive. Moreover, it is protected by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).