This is a very posh family which we will explore in this post!
As far as I know it has little ethnobotanical uses but we all admire the members of this huge worldwide family!
“Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera worldwide.”
Stace mentions 22 straight genera growing in the British Isles. There are also many intergeneric crosses, which makes the classification a lot more complicated. Some genera only have a limited number of species, whilst Dactylorhiza (Marsh orchid), Epipactis (Helleborine) and Orchis (Orchids) have many species.
There are 15 entries in our Flora of Birmingham and the Black Country although some are old records and have not been seen in recent years. These entries will be indicated by FBBC after the name in the contents page.
If you are interested in native orchids you can also have a look at the website of The Hardy Orchid society, who share an interest in the wild, native orchids of Britain and the rest of Europe, as well as those from similar temperate climates throughout the world.
The Scientific name in the post will have a link of the ‘Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora’ from which I copy the Ecology/habitat in the B.I. You will be able to find out the frequency it occurs on the British Isles with the map.
The common name usually has a link of Wikipedia or another link of a U.K. site. I’ve used the excellent website First Nature on several occasions. This also has a useful Wild Orchids of Britain and Ireland Gallery.
The info about wildlife associated is mainly from Wikipedia.
Most orchids require a mycorrhizal symbiosis to germinate successfully and remains partially dependent upon the fungus in order to access soil nutrients. This information can also be found in the Wikipedia link and I will omit this in order to keep the information concise.
Pictures are mainly thanks to Mike Poulton (M.P.), Andrew Bennett (A.B.), Matt Summers (M.S) and from various people on Wikipedia.
Contents:
In Stace it is family 164 after the Liliaceae and before the Iridaceae. The family is split into 7 tribes which you can find in the contents below and please use the jump link to find more info on the next page!
Tribe 1 CYPRIPEDIEAE
Cyprepedium calceolus or Lady’s-slipper
Tribe 2 NEOTTIEAE
- Cephalanthera damasonianum or White Helleborine
- C. longifolia or Narrow-leaved Helleborine
- C. rubra or Red Helleborine
Epipactis spp or Helleborines (8 species and several hybrids in Stace):
- Epipactis helleborine or Broad-leaved Helleborine (FBBC)
- E. atrorubens or Dark-red Helleborine
- E. dunensis or Dune Helleborine
- E. purpurata or Violet Helleborine (FBBC)
- E. muelleri var muelleri or Narrow-lipped Helleborine
- E. phyllanthes or Green-flowered Helleborine (FBBC)
- E. palustris or Marsh Helleborine
- E. helleborine subsp. neerlandica (Synonym of E. youngiana) or Young’s Helleborine
Neottia spp or Twayblades (3 species in Stace)
- N. ovata or Common Twayblade (FBBC)
- N. cordata or Lesser Twayblade
- N. nidus-avis or Bird’s-nest Orchid
Tribe 3 GASTRODIEAE
Epipogium aphyllum or Ghost Orchid
Tribe 4 MALAXIDEAE
Liparis loeseli or Fen Orchid
Hammarbya paludosa or Bog Orchid
Tribe 5 CALYPSOEAE
Corallorhiza trifida or Coralroot Orchid
Tribe 6 CRANICHIDEAE
Spiranthes spp. (3 spp in Stace)
- Spiranthes spiralis or Autumn Lady’s-tresses
- S. romanzoffiana or Irish Lady’s-tresses
- S. aestivalis or Summer Lady’s-tresses
Goodyera repens or Creeping Lady’s-tresses
Tribe 7 ORCHIDEAE
This is the most common tribe in the BI with 11 genera mentioned in Stace. It is also complex with many intergeneric crosses.
Hermenium monorchis or Musk Orchid
Plathanthera spp or Butterfly-Orchids
- P. chlorantha or Greater Butterfly-orchid
- P. bifolia or Lesser Butterfly-orchid
Pseudoorchis albida or Small-white orchid
Gymnadenia spp or Fragrant orchids
- G. conopsea or Fragrant Orchid (FBBC)
- G. densiflora or March Fragrant Orchid
Dactylorhiza or Marsh-orchids(Stace mentions 8 spp as well as many ssp & hybrids!)
- Dactylorhiza viridis or Frog Orchid
- D. fuchsii or Common Spotted-orchid (FBBC)
- D. x grandis (D. fuchsii x D. praetermissa) (FBBC)
- D. maculata or Heath Spotted-orchid (FBBC)
- D. praetermissa or Southern Marsh-orchid (FBBC)
- D. incarnata or Early Marsh-orchid (FBBC)
- D. purpurella or Northern Marsh-orchid (FBBC)
- D. traunsteinerioides or Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid
- D. majalis or Western (Broad-leaved) Marsh-orchid
- D. kerryensis or Irish Marsh-orchid
Orchis spp or orchids
- O. mascula or Early-purple Orchid (FBBC)
- O. purpurea or Lady Orchid
- O. simia or Monkey Orchid
- O. militaris or Military Orchid
- O. anthropophora (Syn. Aceras anthropophorum) or Man Orchid
Neotinea spp.
- Neotinea maculata or Dense-flowered orchid
- N. ustulata or Burnt Orchid
Anacamptis spp.
- Anacamptis pyramidalis or Pyramidal orchid (FBBC)
- A. moria (syn. O. moria) or Green-winged Orchid (FBBC)
- A. laxiflora or Loose-flowered Orchid
himantoglossum hircinum or lizard orchid
Serapias spp.
- Serapias parviflora or Lesser tongue-orchid
- S. lingua or Tongue-orchid
Ophrys spp or bee orchids
- O. apifera or Bee Orchid (FBBC)
- O. fuciflora or Late Spider-orchid
- O. insectifera or Fly Orchid (FBBC)
- O. speghodes or EarlySpider-orchid
O. tenthredinifera or Sawfly-orchid