I woudn`t normally have an October page, but a trip to Vienna resulted in orchid sightings of a kind.

Vienna Botanische Garten 3rd October 2023

A surprising find in the alpine garden. A clump of gone-over Marsh Helleborines.

Burgeralpe, Mariazell 8th October 2023

We caught the Salzberg Express to St. Polten, and then the narrow gauge alpine style railway to Mariazell in the Steirmark province. A cable car ride takes you up to the summit of Burgeralpe. A walk between the Kritalsee lake and some mixed woodland revealed so Epipactis plants, all with full seed pods. Probably Broad-leaved Helleborines; however, there is an outside chance that these were Epipactis nordeniorum. This close relative to BLH (some class it as a species in its own right) is localised to this corner of Austria where it meets Slovenia. The leaf arrangement matches both species, but the lateness of flowering judged by how unripe the seed pods were, and the high number of seed pods suggesting a self pollinator are pointers to the local species. Would just need to see it in flower really, but that aint gonna happen!