''Gymnadenia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the orchid family ( Orchidaceae) containing 22

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. The former genus ''Nigritella'' is now included in ''Gymnadenia''. They can be found in damp

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

s, fens and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es, and on chalk or limestone, often in alpine regions of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...

, including China, Japan,

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

, the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, etc.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The fragrant orchid ('' Gymnadenia conopsea'') has been introduced into the USA and is reportedly naturalized in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. These hardy terrestrial

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

. They survive the winter through two deep-cut

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

s. Long lanceolate

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

leaves grow at the bottom of the stem. There are some small leaves at the stop of the stem. They

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

during the summer. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a dense cylindrical spike between 5 and 30 cm long. It can consists of up to 150 small pleasant-smelling flowers. It is recently discovered that eugenol and isoeugenol, floral volatile scent compounds, are catalyzed by single type of enzyme in ''Gymnadenia'' species and gene encoding for this enzyme is first functionally characterized gene in this species so far. Their color can vary from pale purple to pink and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

. The

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

is wide with three lobes. The marginal petals are horizontal. There is a long, thin, threadlike spur. Several

were formerly classified under ''Nigritella''. The nothogeneric name ×''Gymnigritella'' was used for hybrids between these two groups.

Species

, '' Plants of the World Online'' accepted the following species and hybrids. ( = formerly placed in ''Nigritella'', N= formerly placed in ×''Gymnigritella''.) *'' Gymnadenia archiducis-joannis'' (Teppner & E.Klein) Teppner & E.Klein – Austria *'' Gymnadenia austriaca'' (Teppner & E.Klein) P.Delforge – C. Europe to Pyrenees *'' Gymnadenia bicolor'' (W.Foelsche) W.Foelsche & O.Gerbaud *''

Gymnadenia bicornis ''Gymnadenia bicornis'' is a species of plant in the family Orchidaceae. It is endemic to China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

'' Tang & K.Y.Lang – Tibet *'' Gymnadenia borealis'' (Druce) R.M.Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W.Chase *'' Gymnadenia buschmanniae'' (Teppner & Ster) Teppner & E.Klein – Italy *'' Gymnadenia carpatica'' (Zapal.) Teppner & E.Klein – E. Carpathians *'' Gymnadenia conopsea'' (L.) R.Br. – fragrant orchid, Europe to Temp. E. Asia *'' Gymnadenia corneliana'' (Beauverd) Teppner & E.Klein – SW. Alps *'' Gymnadenia crassinervis'' Finet – China *'' Gymnadenia densiflora'' (Wahlenb.) A.Dietr. *'' Gymnadenia dolomitensis'' Teppner & E.Klein – S. Alps *'' Gymnadenia emeiensis'' K.Y.Lang – China (Sichuan) *'' Gymnadenia frivaldii'' Hampe ex Griseb. – Balkan Pen. to S. Carpathians *''

Gymnadenia gabasiana ''Gymnadenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) containing 22 terrestrial plant, terrestrial species. The former genus ''Nigritella'' is now included in ''Gymnadenia''. They can be found in damp meadows, fens and ...

'' (Teppner & E.Klein) Teppner & E.Klein – Pyrenees *'' Gymnadenia hygrophila'' (W.Foelsche & Heidtke) W.Foelsche, Heidtke & O.Gerbaud *''

Gymnadenia lithopolitanica ''Gymandenia lithopolitanica'', the Austrian gymnadenia, is a species of orchid endemic to a portion of the eastern Alps spanning Austria and Slovenia. Description ''Gymandenia lithopolitanica'' have a short and dense inflorescence in a spheri ...

'' (Ravnik) Teppner & E.Klein – SE. Alps *'' Gymnadenia miniata'' (Crantz) Hayek *'' Gymnadenia nigra'' (L.) Rchb.f. – Europe, Israel *'' Gymnadenia odoratissima'' (L.) Rich. – Europe *'' Gymnadenia orchidis'' Lindl. – Himalaya to China *'' Gymnadenia rhellicani'' (Teppner & E.Klein) Teppner & E.Klein – W. Alps *''

Gymnadenia runei ''Gymnadenia runei'' is an orchid of the genus ''Gymnadenia''. It is endemic in the central north of Sweden and only found in a few localities in the Tärnaby mountains. It grows in localities like calcium rich meadows in the mountains. The specie ...

'' (Teppner & E.Klein) Ericsson – Sweden *'' Gymnadenia stiriaca'' (Rech.) Teppner & E.Klein *'' Gymnadenia taquetii'' Schltr. – Korea *'' Gymnadenia widderi'' (Teppner & E.Klein) Teppner & E.Klein – NE. Alps, C. Italy

Hybrids

* ''Gymnadenia'' × ''abelii'' (Asch. & Graebn.) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''borisii'' Stoj., Stef. & T.Georgiev * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''chanousiana'' G.Foelsche & W.Foelsche (''G. rhellicani'' × ''G. conopsea'') N– France * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''delphineae'' (M.Gerbaud & O.Gerbaud) M.Gerbaud & O.Gerbaud (''G. corneliana'' × ''G. rhellicani'') GN) – France * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''eggeriana'' O.Gerbaud (''G. austriaca'' var. ''gallica'' × ''G. rhellicani'') – France * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''fohringeri'' (Griebl) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''geigelsteiniana'' (B.Baumann & H.Baumann) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''godferyana'' (G.Keller) W.Foelsche (''G. conopsea'' × ''G. rubra'') N– Alps * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''hedrenii'' (W.Foelsche) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''heufleri'' (A.Kern.) Wettst. – Alps * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''hubertii'' (Griebl) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''intermedia'' Peterm. – Europe * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''kaeseri'' (Braun-Blanq.) Oddone * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''moritziana'' (Brügger ex Nyman) Oddone * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''petzenensis'' (F.Fohringer & Redl) Oddone * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''pyrenaeensis'' W.Foelsche N– Pyrenees * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''schwerei'' (G.Keller) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''teppneri'' (W.Foelsche) Oddone * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''trummeriana'' (W.Foelsche) J.M.H.Shaw * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''truongiae'' (Demares) W.Foelsche (''G. conopsea'' × ''G. corneliana'') N– France * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''turnowskyi'' (W.Foelsche) W.Foelsche (''G. conopsea'' × ''G. lithopolitanica'') N– Austria * ''Gymnadenia'' × ''wettsteiniana'' O.Abel – Alps

In Literature

''Gymnadenia'' is the titel of a novel published in 1929 in Norwegian by Nobel Prize winning author

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian- Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924 ...

. The novel was translated into English by Arthur G. Chater and published in 1931 as '' The Wild Orchid.''Undset, Sigrid (1931). ''The Wild Orchid''. Translated by Chater, Arthur G. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Notes

References

External links