Purple orchid

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Purple orchid
Purple orchid (Orchis purpurea)

Purple orchid ( Orchis purpurea )

Systematics
Family : Orchids (orchidaceae)
Subfamily : Orchidoideae
Tribe : Orchideae
Sub tribus : Orchidinae
Genre : Orchids ( orchis )
Type : Purple orchid
Scientific name
Orchis purpurea
Huds.

The purple orchid ( Orchis purpurea ) is one of the largest native orchids. It belongs to the genus of orchids ( Orchis ) and thus to the family of Orchidaceae .

Plant description

Habit and leaves

The perennial herbaceous plant reaches stature heights of 25 to 80 cm, sometimes even above. The three to six leaves that lie almost or completely on the ground are up to 20 cm long.

Purple orchid
( Orchis purpurea )
inflorescence

Inflorescence and flowers

The dense inflorescence is profuse. Sepals and petals inclined together like a helmet, brownish-purple in color. Three-lobed lip, variable in shape and color, 10 to 20 mm long. White to rarely almost completely light purple in color. The points on the lip are made up of small tufts of hair. The Central European flowering period of the purple orchid occasionally begins at the end of April, but usually from the beginning of May and ends at the beginning of June.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40 or 42.

Occurrence

Location

The purple orchid needs calcareous or at least base-rich humus-rich and loose loam soil in areas with a warm climate.

There it inhabits light forests and bushes, which should be dry in summer but well moisturized in winter. At its locations (e.g. in the central and south-western warm regions and in the Swiss Jura) it occurs occasionally in small, poorly individual and very loose stands. In the mountains it usually hardly rises above 1000 m. According to Baumann and Künkele , the species has the following altitude limits in the Alpine countries: Germany 10–850 meters, France 0–1790 meters, Switzerland 200–800 meters, Austria 250–1150 meters, Italy 2–2000 meters, Slovenia 20–800 meters. In Europe it rises to 2000 meters above sea level.

It is a character species of the order Quercetalia pubescentis, but also occurs in the Querco-Ulmetum, the Carici-Fagetum or in societies of the Geranion sanguinei or Mesobromion associations.

distribution

Europe (except the colder areas like Scandinavia ), North Africa , Asia Minor and the Caucasus .

Systematics

One can distinguish three subspecies:

  • Caucasian orchid ( Orchis purpurea subsp. Caucasica (Regel) B. Baumann, H. Baumann, R. Lorenz & Ruedi Peter ): It occurs in northeastern Turkey, Abkhazia, Georgia and Azerbaijan at altitudes between 0 and 1500 meters.
  • Lokis orchid ( Orchis purpurea subsp. Lokiana (H.Baumann) H.Baumann & R.Lorenz , Syn .: Orchis lokiana H.Baumann ): It occurs in light forests, in forest fringes, in garrigues on moderately dry to alternately moist, base-rich soils in north-eastern Algeria at altitudes between 900 and 1600 meters above sea level. The subspecies is named in honor of Hannelore Schmidt (1919-2010) called Loki, the wife of the German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt .
  • Orchis purpurea subsp. purpurea : This subspecies occurs in Europe north to southern England and Denmark, south to southern Spain, north-eastern Sicily, the Peloponnese and southern Turkey and east to central Turkey, the Crimea and Bolsoy. It grows at altitudes between 0 and 2000 meters above sea level.

Hybrids

Orchis × hybrida

Hybrids are mainly formed with the

  • Helmet orchid ( Orchis militaris ) = Orchis × hybrida (Lindl.) Boenn. ex Rchb. 1830

These plants are usually much larger and stronger than the parent species.

  • Monkey orchid ( Orchis simia ) = Orchis × angusticruris Franch. 1876

and the

  • Sanshorn ( Aceras anthropophorum ) = × Orchiaceras melsheimeri Rouy 1912

Danger

The purple orchid is endangered. In order to point out the special need for protection of this rare species, the purple orchid was chosen by the working groups for domestic orchids (AHO) as the orchid of the year 2013.

More pictures

  • Orchis × hybrida

  • Orchis purpurea in Orjen , Montenegro

  • Orchis purpurea near Leinburg, Middle Franconia (Ornate tone level)

  • Orchis purpurea near Leinburg, Middle Franconia

  • Orchis purpurea single flower

  • Orchis purpurea on Blassenberg ( Großkochberg )

literature

  • Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe. Volume 5: Swan flowers to duckweed plants. 2nd, revised edition. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 281.
  2. ↑ a b Helmut Baumann , Siegfried Künkele : "Orchidaceae". In Oskar Sebald u. a .: The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. 1st edition Volume 8, page 388. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3359-8
  3. ↑ a b c Helmut Baumann , Siegfried Künkele and Richard Lorenz: Orchids of Europe with adjacent areas . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 2006. ISBN 978-3-8001-4162-3 . Pages 244–245.

Web links

Commons : Purple orchid ( Orchis purpurea )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Orchis × hybrida  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Distribution maps: