''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

of the family

Orchidaceae 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 flowerin ...

native to northern Europe.

Etymology

The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words (', "nude") and (', "gland") and refers to the characteristics of the organs for secreting nectar. The specific Latin name "conopsea" derives from the Greek ' ('), literally meaning "mosquito-like", probably because of the similarity of the long spur of the flower with the mouthparts of a

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

. The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially ''Orchis conopsea'', proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl von Linné (1707–1778) in his ' of 1753. The name has been subsequently amended to the one currently accepted (''Gymnadenia conopsea''), by the British botanist Robert Brown (1773–1858) in 1813. In German, this plant is called ' or '; in French, is called ' or '; in Italy, it is called ' ("pink hand"); in Croatian, it is known under '.

Description

Gymnadenia conopsea - Harilik käoraamat Niitvälja

Gymnadenia conopsea infructescence - Niitvälja bog

''Gymnadenia conopsea'' reaches on average of height, with a maximum of . These plants are tuberous geophytes, as they bring their buds in underground tuber, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. These orchids are "

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 ...

" because unlike " epiphytic" species, they do not grow on other plants of major sizes. The stem is leafy and robust, with a striated surface. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are long, narrow and lanceolate and vary from 3 to 7. The leaf color is gray-green. Size of leaf: width 1 to 2 cm, length 10 – 25 cm. These orchids have two ovoidal bulbs, deeply webbed and with many small and short lobes. Size of tubers: 1 to 3.5 cm. The inflorescence is long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense cylindrical spikes (up to 50 flowers per spike). These inflorescences are scented and genes underlying eugenol (a volatile scent compound) production have been identified in Gymnadenia conopsea, G. odoratissima and G. densiflora. The flowers are petiolated, placed in the axils of long bracts and reach on average . They have a distinctive three lobed lip and long spurs. Their light scent is similar to

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or Aroma compound, fragrance in fi ...

. Their colors vary from white and pink to pink-purple, more rarely white. These flowers bloom in the Summer, from June to July. They are

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...

and pollinated by insects (

entomophily Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects. Flowers pollinated by insects typically advertise themselves with bright colours, som ...

), including

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

Ecology

The species is almost exclusively pollinated by moths (Lepidoptera). The most common pollinators are the small elephant hawk-moth (''

Deilephila porcellus ''Deilephila porcellus'', the small elephant hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Distribution It is found in Europe, North Africa ...

''), hummingbird hawk-moth (''

Macroglossum stellatarum The hummingbird hawk-moth (''Macroglossum stellatarum'') is a species of hawk moth found across temperate regions of Eurasia. The species is named for its similarity to hummingbirds, as they feed on the nectar of tube-shaped flowers using thei ...

''), silver Y (''

Autographa gamma The silver Y (''Autographa gamma'') is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings. Description The silver Y is a medium-sized moth with a wingspan of 30 to 45 mm. The win ...

''), burnished brass (''

Diachrysia chrysitis ''Diachrysia chrysitis'', the burnished brass, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, the Caucasus, Russia, Russian Far East and Siberia. In the south of Europe the range extends to southern Spain, southern Italy and ...

'') and large yellow underwing (''

Noctua pronuba The large yellow underwing (''Noctua pronuba'') is a moth, the type species for the family Noctuidae. It is an abundant species throughout the Palearctic realm, one of the most common and most familiar moths of the region. In some years the speci ...

''). Fruit set is high with an average of 73%. The seed's germination is conditioned by the presence of

mycorrhizal fungi A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the pla ...

. ''Gymnadenia conopsea'' is held to be a mycorrhizal generalist, able to form associations with a variety of different fungal species including species in the

Tulasnellaceae The Tulasnellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the " jelly fungi" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, but ...

Ceratobasidiaceae The Ceratobasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. All species within the family have basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are thin and effused. They have sometimes been included within the corticioid fungi or alternatively wi ...

and

Pezizales The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and white ...

Distribution

This plant is quite common throughout

northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

with the exception of the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...

. In Asia it is common in areas to the north of 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 ...

. ''Gymnadenia conopsea'' ssp. ''borealis'' has been recorded from Co. Donegal,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

in 2004.

Habitat

This species' habitat includes mountain meadows and pastures, grassland and fens. They grow on siliceous and calcareous substrate, mildly damp and with low nutritional value, at an altitude of above sea level.

Subspecies

* ''Gymnadenia conopsea'' subsp. ''conopsea'' * ''Gymnadenia conopsea'' subsp. ''montana'' Bisse

Synonyms

* ''Gymnadenia alpina'' (Turcz. ex Rchb.f.) Czerep. 1981 * ''Gymnadenia anisoloba'' Peterm. 1849 * ''Gymnadenia comigera'' Rchb. 1830 * ''Gymnadenia gracillima'' Schur 1871 * ''Gymnadenia ibukiensis''

Makino History Makino was established in 1937 by Tsunezo Makino in Japan, developing Japan's first numerically controlled (NC) milling machine in 1958 and Japan's first machining centre in 1966. The North American branch of Makino was formed thro ...

1912 * ''Gymnadenia orchidis var. pantlingii'' Renz 2001 * ''Gymnadenia ornithis'' Rich. 1818 * ''Gymnadenia psuedoconopsea'' Gren. Rouy 1912 * ''Gymnadenia pyrenaica'' Giraudias 1882 * ''Gymnadenia sibirica'' Turcz. ex Lindl. 1835 * ''Gymnadenia splendida'' Dworschak 2002 * ''Gymnadenia splendida subsp. odorata'' Dworschak 2002 * ''Gymnadenia transsilvanica'' Schur 1866 * ''Gymnadenia vernalis'' Dworschak 2002 * ''Gymnadenia wahlenbergii'' Afzel. ex Rchb.f. 1851 * ''Habenaria conopsea'' ( L.) Benth. (1880) * ''Habenaria gymnadenia'' Druce 1897 * ''Orchis conopea'' Gras 1862 * ''Orchis conopsea'' L. 1753 * ''Orchis cornopica'' Mill. 1768 * ''Orchis ornithis'' Jacq. 1774 * ''Orchis peloria'' Foucault ex Poir. 1816 * ''Orchis pseudoconopea'' Gren. 1869 * ''Orchis pseudo-conopsea'' Gren. 1865 * ''Orchis pseudoconopsea'' J.Parm. 1894 * ''Orchis setacea'' Gilib. 1792 * ''Orchis suaveolens'' Salisb. 1796 * ''Satyrium conopseum'' (L.) Wahlenb. 1826Synonyms i
''The Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia'' at Orchidspecies
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References

* Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 voll.) - Edagricole – 1982, Vol. III * Tutin, T.G. et al. - Flora Europaea, second edition - 1993 * CLAESSENS, J. & J. KLEYNEN (2011): The flower of the European Orchid – Form and function

External links

* *
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Gymnadenia conopsea

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q157442 conopsea Orchids of Europe Orchids of Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus