!Orchis militaris L. 1753

Photos by © Jürgen Boehn

Plant and Flower

Photo by Th.Pain

White Color Variety

Photo by © Egon Krogsgaard

Part sun Cold Spring

O militaris Group

Common Name The Helmet-Like Orchis - The Military Orchid - In China Si Lie Hong Men Lan

Flower Size 3/4" [2cm]

Found in Great Britain, Sweden, Spain, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Belarus, Crimea, Ukraine, all of Russia, western Siberia and Mongolia as a medium sized, cold growing, erect terrestrial from thickets on marl, limestone soils and open meadows at elevations up to 2200 meters with ovoid or ellipsoid tubers carrying basal, unmarked, shiny, oblong-lanceolate or oblong-ovate, prostrate leaves that blooms in the spring on a 3 to 5" [7.5 to 12.5 cm] long, oblong or pyramidal in shape, many [10 to 40] flowered inflorescence with violet bracts and with showy flowers.

Synonyms Orchis cinerea Schrank 1789; Orchis galeata Poiret 1789; Orchis militaris f. acuminata A.Camus 1921; Orchis militaris f. angustiloba Leimbach 1887; Orchis militaris f. angustissima W.Zimm. 1917; Orchis militaris f. arenaria Schur 1866; Orchis militaris f. intercedens Beck 1890; Orchis militaris f. longibracteata Schur 1866; Orchis militaris f. platyloba W.Zimm. 1917; Orchis militaris f. raddeana (Regel) Boiss. 1882; Orchis militaris f. sibirica Schltr. 1926;Orchis militaris f. stenoloba Döll 1857; Orchis militaris subsp. stevenii (Rchb.f.) B.Baumann & al. 2003; Orchis militaris var. berdaui Zapal. 1906; Orchis militaris var. nervata (Marchand) Tinant 1836; Orchis militaris var. perplexa Beck 1890; Orchis militaris var. spathulata Cortesi 1903; Orchis militaris var. stevenii (Rchb.f.) Nyman 1882; Orchis militaris var. tenuifrons P.D.Sell in P.D.Sell & G.Murrell 1996; Orchis militaris var. tripartita M.Schulze 1902; Orchis mimusops Thuill 1799; Orchis nervata Marchand 1827; Orchis punctulata subsp. stevenii (Rchb.f.) H.Sund. 1980; Orchis raddeana Regel 1869; Orchis rivini Gouan 1775; Orchis rivini f. angustiloba Leimbach 1887; Orchis rivini f. vulgaris Leimbach 1887; Orchis rivini var. albiflora Thielens 1874; Orchis rivini var. stenoloba Marchal 1874; Orchis simia subsp. stevenii (Rchb.f.) E.G.Camus 1908; Orchis stevenii Rchb.f. 1849; Orchis tephrosanthos var. caucasica Steven ex Rchb.f. 1850; Orchis tephrosanthos var. macrophylla Lindl. 1835; Strateuma militaris (L.) Salisb. 1812; Zoophora atropurpurea Bernh. 1800; Zoophora rubella Bernh. 1800

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 photo ok; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 No 2 1964 photo fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #3 1967 photo fide; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 4 193 to 256 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1973; AOS Bulletin Vol 52 No 5 1983 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 54 No 1 1985 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 55 No 2 1986 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 55 No 2 1986 as O stevenii photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 55 No 6 1986 photo fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 68 No 4 1999 photo fide; Genera Orchidacearum Vol 2 Part One Pridgeon, Cribb, Chase and Rasmussen 2001 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 12 2003 drawing fide; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East Delforge 2005; Orchid Digest Vol 72 #2 2008 photo fide; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009; Flora of China Vol 25 Illustrations Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2010 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #5 2017 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #2 2019 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 84 #1 2020 photo fide;

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