Orchids of Russia: annotated checklist and geographic distribution

• Main Author: Petr G. Efimov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fund for Support and Development of Protected Areas 2020-10-01
• Series: Nature Conservation Research: Zapovednaâ Nauka
• Subjects: biodiversity mapping; geographical analysis; nature conservation; orchidaceae; rare species; regions of russia; vascular plants
• Online Access: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/article/263

A checklist of orchids is presented for Russia. Data from the project «Biodiversity Mapping of Orchidaceae of Russia» are supplemented by the literature data in order to analyse the geographical distribution of species. We consider that the orchid diversity of Russia comprises 135 species and 13 subspecies belonging to 38 genera, including several taxa with status «uncertain for Russia»: Dactylorhiza majalis, D. sambucina, Epipactis purpurata, Cephalanthera caucasica, Anacamptis laxiflora subsp. palustris, and Platanthera komarovii subsp. maximovicziana. Krasnodarsky Krai has the highest number of orchid species (56 species), followed by Sakhalin Region (50), Republic of Dagestan (49), Republic of Crimea (45), Primorsky Krai (42), and Khabarovsky Krai (41). Only in Astrakhan Region there are no orchids known. One species (Anacamptis laxiflora, from one locality) is known from the Republic of Kalmykia, three species from Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug, eight species from Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug. Gymnadenia conopsea is the most widely distributed species, being found in 74 regions (90%), followed by Corallorhiza trifida (73 regions), Dactylorhiza incarnata (72), and D. viridis (71). Twenty-five species are known from only one administrative region. Eleven of them have been found in Sakhalin Region, four of them in Republic of Dagestan. Cephalanthera erecta, Epipactis euxina, and E. leptochila subsp. neglecta are the rarest orchids in Russia (excluding the ones with «uncertain for Russia» status), considering the number of localities: each of these species is known from the unique locus. Two endemic species have been registered in Russia: Epipactis euxina and E. krymmontana. Both species have been described recently. So their distribution demands future studies: supposedly, they may be found in the Caucasus region outside Russia. Liparis loeselii subsp. sachalinensis is another endemic for Russia at the subspecies rank. However, this taxon is uncertain and may be a synonym of L. loeselii subsp. loeselii. Neottia krasnojarica and N. ussuriensis, earlier reported as endemics of Russia, are treated here as synonyms of N. nidus-avis and N. acuminata, respectively. Chamorchis alpina and Liparis loeselii subsp. sachalinensis are the taxa with the highest probability of extinction in Russia.