The nominate species L. abortivum was first described by Swartz from Fontainebleu (France) in 1753 and its name refers to the the small size of the leaves and the manner in which they sheath the stem. Abortivum literally means aborted leaves. L. abortivum var. gracile was first described as a sub-epecies by Willing and Willing in 1981, reduced to a form by Delforge in 2004 and subsequently promoted to varietal status by Kreutz in the same year.
This is a curious orchid that still requires study in order to determine its precise biology. Although widely regarded as a wholly saprophytic plant, there are indications that it may (at least in part) be parasitic. Two factors in particular serve to confuse the issue and these are firstly that the stem has been shown to contain measurable levels of chlorophyll and secondly that the plant depends throughout its existence on mycorrhizal fungus. L. abortivum needs little description as it is highly distinctive and impossible to confuse with any other type of orchid. L. abortivum var. gracile is immediately recognizable by its white flowers and pale green stem, leaves and bracts. The flowers are not however pure white and the epichile in particular usually exhibits a faint purple staining. The plant is smaller in all its parts than type and apparently flowers at least a week earlier. Some authorities do however reject its validity as a variety, believing it to be simply a white flowered form morphologically indistinguishable from the natural variation occurring within type.
L. abortivum occurs over a huge area of Europe from Belgium to Russia, whereas var. gracile is reported as limited to the Megalopolis plateau of the Peloponnese. Its probable range is however thought to be wider, certainly into the Aegean basin. The pictures date from the third week of April at a time when L. abortivum was at a similar stage of development.
