This species was first described from Germany in 1804 and its name refers to the dark red colour of the
flower, although as can be seen from the photographs this colouration may vary from a virtually mauve
hue, through green to an almost dark pink. It is one of the commoner and more familiar of the European Epipactis and is widely known as the Dark Red Helleborine.
E. atrorubens has a widespread distribution throughout boreal and temperate Europe and occurs as far east as Siberia. It can be found as far north as the Scandinavian countries and in the south reaches the
Mediterranean zone, albeit a rarity. In this southerly range it is often confused with other related species such as E. lusitanica in the southern Iberian peninsula.
It is an orchid that tolerates a wide range of climatic conditions and habitat but is primarily a species
of calcareous uplands and mountains up to around 2500 metres. As with most plants it becomes smaller
and more compact with altitude and this tendancy can be seen in the illustrations. The first photograph
comes from a relatively lush environment in a low lying area of the Vercors in Southern France whereas
picture 3 is from the high Pennines of Northern England.
In some of its colour forms E. atrorubens can be mistaken for E. helleborine but there are two easily
detected features which are helpful in distinguishing the two species. Firstly the leaves of the former are
more pointed and held in an upward pointing position along the stem. Secondly if you study the lip you will
note a centrally divided crinkly boss on the lower part of the epichile which is absent from E. helleborine.
The pictures date from the second and third weeks of July.
