''Neotinea ustulata'' ( syn. ''Orchis ustulata''), the burnt orchid or burnt-tip orchid, is a European terrestrial

orchid 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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

native to mountains in central and southern Europe, growing at up to elevation. The plant is considered Endangered in Great Britain and Least Concern internationally based on IUCN Red List criteria. The burnt-tip orchid was voted the

county flower In 2002 Plantlife conducted a "County Flowers" public survey to assign flowers to each of the counties of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The results of this campaign designated a single plant species to a "county or metropolitan area" in ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity

Plantlife Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. , it manages 24 nature reserves around the United Kingdom. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. History Plantlife was founded in 1989. Its first president was Professor David Bellamy ...

Description

''Neotinea ustulata'' grows from two spherical tubers with thick roots. Old sources believed that the plant could grow underground for 10–15 years before the first stem appears. Plants have leaves with prominent veins, along with a couple of leaves typically around the flower stem, which can reach , though typically less than tall. Flowers are born in a dense cylindrical pattern, with individual plants capable of producing up to 70 flowers. The sepals and petals form a hood that is reddish-brown, over a white crimson-spotted lower lip that is . Flowers have a strong fragrance that is described as similar to honey, though flowers do not produce nectar.PhD thesis for the University of East Anglia - Phenological responses of British orchids and their pollinators to climate change: an assessment using herbarium and museum collections
/ref> ''N. ustulata'' flowers from May through June, with the subspecies, ''Neotinea ustulata'' subsp. ''aestivalis'' blooming in July in England. The late flowering subspecies has a different, unpleasant aroma, indicating different pollinators.Journal of Ecology - Orchis ustulata L.
/ref> The common name comes from the tips of the flower buds having a burnt appearance. Seed set for flowers is low, at around 20%, but each seed capsule may contain 2000-4000 seeds, which are dust-like and travel hundreds of kilometres on the wind.

Distribution and habitat

''Neotinea ustulata'' is distributed throughout central and south Europe, with its main populations in Spain and Greece in the south, reaching England and southern Sweden in the north, and reaching as far east as the Caucasus and Ural mountains. It grows as high as elevation in the Carpathian mountains and the Alps. It typically grows on chalky subsoil (occasionally acidic soils) in

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

; fens and open pine forest; mountain meadows, valleys, and ledges; wet grasslands. The plant's largest population in northwest Europe is on Parsonage Down, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ecology

The early-flowering subspecies ''Neotinea ustulata var. ustulata'' is pollinated by a tachinid parasitic fly '' Tachina magnicornis''. The late-flowering subspecies ''Neotinea ustulata var. aestivalis'' is pollinated by the longhorn beetle '' Pseudovadonia livida'' and possibly also by

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

. ''Neotinea ustulata'' is highly restricted in which species of

mycorrhizal fungi A mycorrhiza (; , 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 plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

it can partner with, relying upon species in the

Rhizoctonia ''Rhizoctonia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Ceratobasidiaceae. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies), but are most frequently found in their sterile, anamorph state. ''Rhizoctonia'' species are saprotrophic, ...

group. One study has indicated that partnership with a species of

Ceratobasidium ''Ceratobasidium'' is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are effused and the genus is sometimes grouped among the corticioid fungi, though species also retain features of the heterobasidiomycetes. Anamorph ...

also occurs. As this species is one of the smallest European orchids, it generally relies on low intensity grazing to compete with other plants for light.Journal of Ecology - Orchis ustulata L.
/ref> It is however, not spared by grazers; above ground, plants may be eaten by

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...

and

snails A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

Wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

sometimes dig out the roots of the plant and consume them.

Etymology

The genus ''Neotinea'' is named after an Italian botanist,

Vincenzo Tineo Vincenzo Tineo ( Militello in Val di Catania, 27 February 1791 – Palermo, 25 July 1856) was an Italian Botanist. From 1814 to 1856 he was the director of the Palermo Botanical Garden. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation wh ...

(1791-1856), who was Director of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

botanical garden and later the Chancellor of Palermo University. His published works include 'Plantarum rariorum Sicilae' (1817) and 'Catalogus plantarum horti' (1827). The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''ustulata'' means "slightly burnt",Merriam Webster dictionary
/ref> referring to the appearance of the flower spike, as the common name does.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q158117 Orchideae Orchids of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus