Mutel described already in 1830 a population from the French Savoyen Alps that grew along the Grand Canal near Grenoble, which differed in the flower form and flower coloration from the typical P. grandiflora. In 1962 Casper ranked these populations as a subspecies under the denomination ssp. rosea.

This subspecies differs from ssp. grandiflora by its smaller flower, by its white to pale rose-pink coloration of the corolla lobes, by the rose-pink tube covered with a reddish venation, by the straight and awl-shaped spur (mainly of a dark red or red-violet colour) and by the short, oval-shaped lobes of the upper calyx lip.

Plants grow either directly on wet, vertical limestone cliffs (e.g. at the location near the village Sollières) or in wet meadows along small streams (e.g. at the location below Mont Granier). At the latter location P. grandiflora ssp. rosea occurs also together with P. alpina, and nearby one can find a small population of P. grandiflora ssp. grandiflora. At the same mountain there are also some P. vulgaris together with P. alpina growing.

 

Orchids that can be found at Mont Granier location: