Limodorum abortivum Violet Limodore
Also known as Violet Bird's-nest Orchid, this plant is often said to be saprophytic i.e. living off decaying matter in the pine woods. It is now pretty certain though that like most orchids this is a myco-heterotroph which means it is parasitic upon the soil fungi which in turn absorb nutrients from decaying matter. It can, if needs be, photosynthesise to a limited extent. Experiments in which fungicide had been used to kill the soil fungus showed that the plant started to photosynthesise to a limited extent. Of course it looks as though it has no chlorophyll but the usual green colouration is masked by the purple anthocyanins which colour this plant making it look a bit like Asparagus when just emerging from the ground.
Limodorum abortivum (the abortivum species name refers to the stunted leaves) is a tall orchid normally receiving its nourishment from mycorhizal associations with fungi such as Russulaceae. It is known from other studies that some pine trees are linked by underground networks of soil fungi so it could be (my speculation) that Limodorum abortivum taps into such networks allowing it to be part of a larger association than just orchid and fungus. If this eventually turns out to be proved than it might explain the large size of this orchid - it could be indirectly parasitic upon the neighbouring pine trees under which it usually grows.
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| Limodorum abortivum Violet Limodore | Limodorum abortivum Violet Limodore |
LHS: buds pine woods en route to Mount Olympos RHS and Middle: Pine woods near Phaselis Archeological site, Turkey 5th April 2015
Added on April 12th 2015