These captivating Flowery Friday orchids are from Erich Nelson, Book of Plates of the Genus Orchis. Erich Nelson was a German artist, designer, and botanist. His illustrations have a insurmountable amount of detail which contributed greatly to the understanding of orchids. Throughout his life he completed several volumes of illustrations.¹

Above in Orchis pauciflora, or Sparse-flowered Orchid, has a disproportionate size of flower for its stem. Each stem can grow two to eight large flowers with pale sepals and petals. The center of the flower is a deep yellow and is marked with dark red dots. It has been recorded from eastern Mediterranean countries, such as Greece, Crete, Italy, and Algeria.²

Orchis ligustica is a hybrid species of Orchis patens and Orchis mascula. Though O. patens is found in the Central Mediterranean landscape down to Northwest Africa. O. ligustica is found in the Mediterranean.³

Anacamptis pyramidalis, or pyramidal orchid, do not belong to the genus Orchis, but Anacamptis. They are, however, still a part of the orchid family. The name pyramidalis refers to the pyramidal form their flowers take. This orchid is native to southwestern Eurasia, from western Europe through the Mediterranean region on to Iran.

This orchid is rare to find in Germany and was declared Orchid of the Year in 1990. On the other hand, this flower is very common on the Isle of Wight and was designated the county plant in 2008.⁴

Sources

Images from Erich Nelson, Book of Plates of the Genus Orchis. Courtesy of the Richard Naskali Book Collection.