Cephalanthera cucullata
- The orchid Cephalanthera cucullata
grows in mountainous forest areas all over Crete, on altitudes
ranging between 700-1500 m, and nowhere else in the world.
- Cephalanthera cucullata was
discovered from the French scientist Victor Raulinin, in May
or June 1845.
- It is a perennial herbaceous plant, with short rhizomes. Its
stems reach up to 30 cm and it can produce up to 24 flowers
from May until June. At the end of June, the seeds mature inside
the capsules and the overground plant parts die.
- It is protected by the Greek Presidential Decree 67/81 and the
Bern Convention, and is included in the Annexes II* and IV of the
Habitats Directive and the CITES Convention (Annex II). It is an
endangered species according to the Red Data Book of Rare and
Threatened Plants of Greece, because it exists in limited
populations and the plant is threatened by overgrazing.
- In 1985, the Greek Ministry of Agriculture has characterized an
area of 0.2 hectares, with a known population of the plant, on
Mt. Psiloritis above the village Kamares, as a Protected Natural
Monument.
- In the framework of the CRETAPLANT project, the Micro-reserve of
the plant has been installed in an area of 12 hectares, near the
village Koustogerako of the Municipality of Anatoliko Selino, on
the mountain ranges of Lefka Ori.
