Orchis
| Orchis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Orchis italica | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Subtribe: | Orchidinae |
| Genus: | Orchis Tourn. ex L. 1753 |
| Type species | |
| Orchis militaris L. Sp. Pl.: 943, 1753 | |
| Species | |
See text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Orchis is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), occurring mainly in Europe and Northwest Africa, and ranging as far as Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang.[1] The name is from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids.
Description
These terrestrial orchids have root tubers instead of pseudobulbs. They are extremely diverse in appearance. They produce an erect stem. The inflorescence is a cylindrical to globular spike, 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long, with yellow, red to purple flowers. They start flowering at the base, slowly progressing upwards, except for the Monkey orchid (Orchis simia), which flowers in reverse order.
The original genus Orchis used to contain more than 1,300 names. Since it was polyphyletic, it has been divided by Pridgeon et al., into several new genera (see Reference): Ponerorchis, Schizodium, Steveniella. They can be found in tropical Rainforest and semi-desert regions, near the seashore and in the tundra. The majority of neotropical orchid species can be found in southern Central America, northwest South America
Taxonomy
Species
As of June 2014, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 21 species, along with a number of subspecies:[2]
- Orchis adenocheila Czerniak. (Iran)
- Orchis anatolica Boiss. – Anatolian orchid (Cyprus, Turkey, Southern Aegean Islands, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iran)
- Orchis anthropophora (L.) All. (Western Europe to Mediterranean)
- Orchis brancifortii Biv. (Southern Italy, Sicilia, Sardinia)
- Orchis galilaea (Bornm. & M.Schulze) Schltr. (Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine)
- Orchis italica Poir. – Man orchid, Italian orchid (Mediterranean)
- Orchis laeta Steinh.[verification needed]
- Orchis mascula (L.) L. – Early purple orchid, (N. & C. Europe to Iran, Canary Islands)
- Orchis mascula subsp. ichnusae Corrias
- Orchis mascula subsp. laxifloriformis Rivas Goday & B.Rodr.
- Orchis mascula subsp. mascula
- Orchis mascula subsp. scopulorum (Summerh.) H.Sund. ex H.Kretzschmar, Eccarius & H.Dietr.
- Orchis mascula subsp. speciosa (Mutel) Hegi
- Orchis militaris L. – Military orchid (Europe to Mongolia)
- Orchis militaris subsp. militaris
- Orchis militaris subsp. stevenii (Rchb.f.) B.Baumann & al.
- Orchis olbiensis Reut. ex Gren.
- Orchis pallens L. – Pale-flowered orchid (Europe to Caucasus)
- Orchis patens Desf. (Central Mediterranean to NW. Africa)
- Orchis patens subsp. canariensis (Lindl.) Asch. & Graebn.
- Orchis patens subsp. patens
- Orchis pauciflora Ten.
- Orchis provincialis Balb. ex Lam. & DC. (SC. & S. Europe to Caucasus, NW Africa)
- Orchis punctulata Steven ex Lindl. – Small-dotted orchid (SE. Europe to W. Asia)
- Orchis purpurea Huds. – Lady orchid, purple orchid (Europe to Caucasus, Algeria)
- Orchis purpurea subsp. caucasica (Regel) B.Baumann & al.
- Orchis purpurea subsp. purpurea
- Orchis quadripunctata Cirillo ex Ten. – Four-spotted orchid (Sardinia to Eastern Mediterranean)
- Orchis simia Lam. – Monkey orchid (Europe to Iran, N. Africa)
- Orchis simia subsp. simia
- Orchis simia subsp. taubertiana (B.Baumann & H.Baumann) Kreutz
- Orchis sitiaca (Renz) P.Delforge
- Orchis spitzelii Saut. ex W.D.J.Koch – Spitzel's orchid (Sweden (Gotland), E. Spain to Caucasus, NW. Africa)
- Orchis spitzelii subsp. cazorlensis (Lacaita) D.Rivera & Lopez Velez
- Orchis spitzelii subsp. nitidifolia (W.P.Teschner) Soó
- Orchis spitzelii subsp. spitzelii
- Orchis troodi (Renz) P.Delforge
| This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |