!Cephalanthera pallens L.C.M. Richard 1818 Photo courtesy of Pascal Pernot and the Orchids of France and Europe

Part sunColdTo Cool LATE Spring TO EARLY Summer

Common Name The Pale Cephalanthera

Flower Size Almost 1" [almost 2.5 cm]

A medium to just large sized, cold to cool growing terrestrial from Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Spain, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czachloslavakia, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, western Russia, Algeria, Cyprus, Turkey, Leabanon, Israel, Jordan, Iran, China, Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas in forests of chalky beechwoods, pine forets and rarely grasslands at elevations up to 1800 meters with erect stems with 2 to 3 basal sheaths carrying ovate-lanceolate leaves that narrow towards the inflorescence that blooms on an axillary, 4 to 8" [10 to 20 cm] long, loosely few to several [16] flowered inflorescence arising from the leaf axils occuring in the late spring and early summer.

Synonyms Cephalanthera acuminata Ledeb. 1852; Cephalanthera alba Fritsch 1888; Cephalanthera alba (Crantz) Simonkai 1886; Cephalanthera alpicola var. shizuoi (F.Maek.) T.Hashim. 1987; Cephalanthera damasonianum (Mill.) Druce 1906; Cephalanthera damasonium lus ochroleuca (Baumg.) Soó 1970 publ. 1971; Cephalanthera elegans Schltr. 1919; Cephalanthera ensifolia Rich. 1817; Cephalanthera erecta f. subaphylla (Miyabe & Kudô) M.Hiroe 1971; Cephalanthera erecta var. erecta; Cephalanthera grandiflora Gray Bab.; Cephalanthera lancifolia (F.W.Schmidt) Dumort. 1827; Cephalanthera latifolia Druce 1907; Cephalanthera latifolia (Miller) Janchen 1907; Cephalanthera lonchophyllum (L. f.) Rchb. f. 1851; Cephalanthera ochroleuca Rchb. f. 1833; Cephalanthera shizuoi Maek. 1936; Cephalanthera subaphylla Miyabe & Kudô 1932; Cephalanthera yunnanensis Hand.-Mazz. 1936; *Cymbidium pallens Sw. 1799; Epipactis alba Crantz 1769; Epipactis lancifolia F.W.Schmidt 1795; Epipactis ochroleuca Baumg. 1817; Epipactis pallens Sw. 1805; Epipactis pallens Willd.; Limodorum acuminatum (Wall. ex Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Serapias alba (Crantz) Salisb. 1796; Serapias damasonium Mill. 1768; Serapias grandiflora Oeder 1770; Serapias lancifolia (F.W.Schmidt) Roth 1799; Serapias latifolia Mill. 1768; Serapias lonchophyllum L. f. 1782; Serapias ochroleuca (Baumg.) Steud. 1821; Serapias pallens (Sw.) S.B.Jundz. 1830; Serapias tota-alba Gilib. 1792

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995 as Cephalanthera damasonianum (Mill.) Druce 1906; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchdis Hawkes 1987; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2003; An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982 as Cephalanthera damasonianum (Mill.) Druce 1906; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005 as Cephalanthera damasonianum (Mill.) Druce 1906; Wild Orchids of Britain Summerhayes 1951 as Cephalanthera damasonianum (Mill.) Druce 1906; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle east Delforge 2005 as Cephalanthera damasonium; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2007 as Cephalanthera damasonium

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