''Neotinea maculata'', the dense-flowered orchid, is an

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

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and parts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. (Codes)

Description

The leaves are oblong, 5 cm in length, and form a basal rosette which develops from round underground nodules that are up to 6 cm in diameter. Stems emerge vertically from the rosette and are covered for a third of their length with a light green

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

. The flowering period is from April to June, during which an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

of small white to pink

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s is produced.

References

* Bateman R.M., 2003 Molecular phylogenetics and evolution of Orchidinae and selected Habenariinae (Orchidaceae). ''Bot. J. Linn. Soc.'' 2003; 142(1): 1-40. * Delforge P., 2001 Guide des orchidées D'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient, 2° ed, Lausanne, Delachaux et Niestlé

External links

Neotinea maculata Pierre Delforge
Orchideae Orchids of Europe Orchids of Lebanon Flora of Malta {{Orchidoideae-stub