Introduction

Preface

Orchids are among the most beautiful, fascinating, and rare plants in the world. Probably no other plant family enjoys such enthusiastic attention from florists and amateur botanists as the orchids, the gems among the flowers. Bizarre flower shapes, exceptional colour nuances and silky or velvety textures give many species a fairy-like beauty. Orchid species are often quite variable and are probably actively evolving, which is reflected in the large number of subspecies, varieties and forms that have been named. In addition, there are numerous inter- and infrageneric hybrids. Most of the species are uncommon or rare, some are even seriously endangered. These are some of the reasons why more and more people are attracted to orchids and spend much time studying them.

Depending on which species concept is followed, around 20,000 to 35,000 orchid species have been named worldwide. Except for the Antarctic, they occur in all continents, from Greenland to New Zealand, and grow in the most diverse habitats, from dense forests to marshes and grasslands. In Europe all species are terrestrial, but in the tropics, where most species are found, the majority are epiphytic. In Europe and adjacent countries, depending on which botanist you ask, about 1000 species, subspecies and varieties occur, most of them in the Mediterranean.

European orchids are becoming increasingly popular, especially in the last thirty years. They are not only the beststudied family, but they also have a high profile in nature conservation, as they are perfect indicators of the state of their habitats, be it forests, shrublands, grasslands, heaths, meadows, or marshes and bogs. The beauty and diversity of native orchids, as well as their interesting biology, particularly their pollination mechanisms, fascinate time and again.

Orchids are among the most endangered plants in Europe. Many of their sites have been and are being destroyed by building activities, road construction, drainage, eutrophication (often from using fertilizers), forest clearing or afforestation. Numerous sites were lost through shrub encroachment, peat extraction, overgrazing, matting, trampling, as well as picking and digging up the plants. In the Alps, they are especially endangered by the construction of ski lifts, ski slopes and mountain railways. The largest decline was experienced in the 20th century, in the period from World War II to the 1980s, when many habitats were destroyed by development, drainage and fertilization. After this period, nature conservation areas were increasingly designated, especially in Central Europe, and effective protection measures were introduced. Also, many formerly heavily used meadows were extensively grazed again and no longer fertilized. As a result of these conservation measures, many orchids have increased in numbers, and the most important sites in Central Europe seem to have been safeguarded. In addition, native orchids in many Western and Central European countries are under strict legal protection. It is prohibited to damage, pick, excavate or transplant them. Most nature reserves have access restricted to designated footpaths, or access by the public is even banned entirely.

There has been an ever-increasing flow of articles and books about European orchids, especially in the past 50 years, and numerous new orchid names have been published. In fact, so many new taxa (species, subspecies, varieties and forms) have been described that even well-known orchid specialists are finding it difficult to keep up. This is not least because all these taxa have been and are being published in a formidable number of different periodicals and books, which are not always easily obtainable. While many of the new taxa are really new to science, others are questionable and destined to end up in synonymy, if they have not already done so. Undoubtedly, more new species, subspecies and varieties, as well as new hybrids, will continue to be described for some time to come.

To avoid confusion and to maintain consistency among the group names in this work they were in general formed from the appropriate plural form of the epithet of the first described species in the group. Groups were also created for monotypic genera, as new species or varieties could be discovered within these groups in the future. Several taxonomical decisions may be debatable, but without this classification many taxa would be much harder to identify.

This work would not have been possible without the help of many orchid friends and colleagues, who have always kindly and promptly supported me with articles, photos and comments.

Note Traditionally, many two-part compound words have also been hyphenated, but these days they are increasingly either separated or written together, especially in American English. Traditionally, new terms such as homepage were first written home page for a long time, not until much later home-page and now as homepage. Therefore, basal field is written in this work together as one word ‘basalfield”, because all other Ophrys-characters are composed of one word, moreover in Dutch it is basaalveld, in German Basalfeld, also consisting of one word.