Tenerife Orchid

"Tenerife Orchid" - Himantoglossum metlesicsianum (W. P. Teschner) P. Delforge (*)

This orchid is a rare endemism of Tenerife, although recent works have provided the first data of its presence, distribution and abundance for the island of La Palma. This species was known as Barlia metlesicsiana Teschner. It is known as "Orchid of Tenerife".
It is a species that is distributed by areas of pine forest, by casting and in abandoned crops in the southwest of Tenerife. This orchid (family Orchidaceae) 40 to 60 cm high is a geophite with leaves up to 30 cm. It has an inflorescence in dense spike, 24-40 flowers and bracts surpassing the flowers, with flowers of greenish lateral petals on the external face and dotted with red on the internal, pink, purple or off-white lip, with reddish macules.
The Himantoglossum metlesicsianum taxon (Barlia metlesicsiana) develops, preferably, in recent lavic malpaíses of the western sector of the island, located at an altitude between 700-1,100 m, in the potential domain of the Canary pine, although it is usually locally linked to communities from Greenovio-Aeonietea (habitat of community interest).
The flowering period of this species is between the months of January to April. Outside this time, its location is complicated, especially due to its easy confusion with other species present in the area such as Scilla haemorrhoidalis or Drimia maritima, which are very similar in their early phenological stages. The insular distribution of this endemism comprises few populations on the island of Tenerife: in Santiago del Teide, in Chío, in Arguayo and in Icod (Taken from Mesa et al., 2004).
Its rarity and scientific interest justify its inclusion in several legal protection catalogs and red books. Among the first, the National and Regional Endangered Species Catalogs (CNEA), the Order of Flora Canaria and the Berne Convention stand out. In the Atlas and Red Book of the Threatened Vascular Flora of Spain, it was awarded an IUCN category in B2ab (iii, v).
(*) Species dedicated to Hans Metlesics (1944 -), Austrian naturalist and botanist, who has made numerous expeditions to search for plant specimens, with emphasis on the Canary Islands.