''Neotinea maculata'', the dense-flowered orchid, is an

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

native to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. (Codes)

Description

The leaves are oblong, 5 cm in length, and form a basal rosette which develops from round underground nodules that are up to 6 cm in diameter. Stems supported emerge vertically from the rosette and are covered for a third of their length with a light green

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

. The flowering period is from April to June, during which an

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of small white to pink

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are produced.

References

* Bateman R.M., 2003 Molecular phylogenetics and evolution of Orchidinae and selected Habenariinae (Orchidaceae). ''Bot. J. Linn. Soc.'' 2003; 142(1): 1-40. * Delforge P., 2001 Guide des orchidées D'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient, 2° ed, Lausanne, Delachaux et Niestlé

External links

Neotinea maculata Pierre Delforge
Orchideae Orchids of Europe Orchids of Lebanon Flora of Malta {{Orchidoideae-stub