This plant grows to a height of 20 to 50cm with a robust stem with rather drawn up oblong basal leaves. The inflorescence forms a purplish dense cone consisting of from 10 to 40 flowers. In each flower the sepals and side petals are gathered together to form a pointed "helmet" (whence it gets its name), a lilac colour outside and a veined purple colour inside. The central tongue finishes in two lobes separated by a tooth.
Depending on the location, it flowers from April to June.
Taxonomy
Orchis militaris was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[4]Orchis militarisPoir.. is a synonym of Orchis italica.[5] Two subspecies are recognized:[6]
Orchis militaris subsp. militaris – widespread in Eurasia, from Britain to Mongolia[1]
Orchis militaris subsp. stevenii(Rchb.f.) B.Baumann, H.Baumann, R.Lorenz & Ruedi Peter – Iran, Crimea, North Caucasus, the Transcaucasus, Turkey[2]
Distribution and habitat
It is well distributed around Europe, reaching as far north as southern Sweden, but rather rare in the Mediterranean areas. It extends east across the Palearctic to Siberia. It prefers full light on a dry calcareous substrate, for example, unfertilized lawns, meadows, edges and light woods up to 2000m in altitude.
Orchis militaris contains the nutritious polysaccharideglucomannan, and is one of the original species of orchid whose ground-up roots are used to make the drink salep.
↑ Structure of Orchinol, Loroglossol, and Hircinol. Roy M. Letcher and Llewellyn R. M. Nhamo, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1973, pages 1263-1265, doi:10.1039/P19730001263
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