Orchis mascula
Male orchid (Orchis mascula )
The purple orchid (Orchis mascula ), also Handsome orchid, orchid and cuckoo 's orchid called, is one of the more frequent species of the genus Orchis from the orchid family ( Orchidaceae).
- 3.1 dissemination
- 3.2 location
- 3.3 hazard
Description
Habitus and sheets
The purple orchid is a perennial, herbaceous plant that reaches ( the stem 15-50 cm, cylindrical inflorescence 12-20 cm) up to 70 cm in height. The ovate - lanceolate rosette leaves can be unspotted, speckled or spotted purple.
Flowers
The lateral sepals are rotated fully open flowers standing upward and outward. The median sepal forming the petals with a helmet. The lip shape is variable: clear or only suggested three-lobed. The base is lighter with darker points and the lip edge is usually fringed. The flower color ranges from pale violet to purple, from purple to hellpurpurrot. Albinos are rare, but occur regularly. The flowering period extends from late April to early June.
Ecology
The main pollinators are bumblebees; spontaneous self-pollination is possible.
Occurrence
Dissemination
There are areas in Europe and North Africa. In Switzerland, the species is still widespread and rarely in areas with intensive agriculture. In Germany also widely used, it is very rare in Brandenburg and beyond. Between southern Lower Saxony and Schleswig -Holstein only a few locations are known. More often, it is in the Baltic Sea region, for example, on the Swedish island of Öland. In Rhineland -Palatinate and Hesse, there are plenty of locations of Orchis mascula. Here also the two subspecies Orchis mascula mix subsp. mascula and Orchis mascula subsp. speciosa, which occur side by side on the same site. In Bavaria, south of the Danube nearly no sites for the Alpine foothills towards more frequent again. In Baden- Württemberg only rarely in Upper Swabia.
The Magnificent (Orchis mascula subsp. Speciosa) was and is often not distinguished from the male orchid. In the north of Germany, the purple orchid is widespread in southern Germany, especially in the Alpine region, the Stately orchid. In between is a very broad transition zone where plants combine the features of both types in itself. It may well in the Alps all occurrences belong to the Magnificent orchid.
Location
The plant grows wild in very different locations: clear forests, nutrient-poor grasslands, alpine meadows, rare in wet meadows. On calcareous to non-calcareous soils.
Endangering
The ability to colonize different sites, the purple orchid is not too rare. It was chosen by the working groups Native Orchids ( AHO) to the Orchid of the year 2009.