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Orchis militaris
Also called Soldier Orchid
Orchis militaris, the military orchid, is a species of orchid native to Europe. It is the type species of the genus Orchis.
Orchinol is a phenanthrenoid that can be isolated from infected O. militaris.
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 2000 m in altitude.
Orchis militaris contains the nutritious polysaccharide glucomannan, and is one of the original species of orchid whose ground-up roots are used to make the drink salep.
Orchis adenocheila · Anatolian orchid · Man orchid · Branciforti's orchid · Orchis canariensis · Galilee Orchid · Naked Man Orchid · Early Purple Orchid · Pale orchid · Orchis patens · Provence orchid · Small-dotted Orchis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Orchis militaris by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
