Gymnadenia

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Gymnadenia
Gymnadenia conopsea ENBLA02.jpg
Gymnadenia densiflora
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Orchideae
Subtribe: Orchidinae
Genus: Gymnadenia
R.Br.
Synonyms [1]
  • NigritellaRich.
  • × GymnigritellaE.G.Camus

Gymnadenia is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) containing 22 terrestrial species. The former genus Nigritella is now included in Gymnadenia.

Contents

They can be found in damp meadows, fens and marshes, and on chalk or limestone, often in alpine regions of Europe and Asia from Portugal to Kamchatka, including China, Japan, Mongolia, Siberia, the Himalayas, Iran, Ukraine, Germany, Scandinavia, Great Britain, etc. [2] [3] [4] The fragrant orchid ( Gymnadenia conopsea ) has been introduced into the USA and is reportedly naturalized in Connecticut. [5]

These hardy terrestrial orchids are deciduous. They survive the winter through two deep-cut tubers. Long lanceolate green leaves grow at the bottom of the stem. There are some small leaves at the stop of the stem.

They flower during the summer. The inflorescence is a dense cylindrical spike between 5 and 30 cm long. It can consists of up to 150 small pleasant-smelling flowers. It is recently discovered that eugenol and isoeugenol, floral volatile scent compounds, are catalyzed by single type of enzyme in Gymnadenia species and gene encoding for this enzyme is first functionally characterized gene in this species so far. [6] Their color can vary from pale purple to pink and white. The lip is wide with three lobes. The marginal petals are horizontal. There is a long, thin, threadlike spur.

Several species were formerly classified under Nigritella. The nothogeneric name ×Gymnigritella was used for hybrids between these two groups.

Species

Gymnadenia x heufleri Gymnigritella x heufleri 280603.jpg
Gymnadenia × heufleri
Gymnadenia rhellicani (syn. Nigritella rhellicani) Nigritella rhellicani 250704.jpg
Gymnadenia rhellicani (syn. Nigritella rhellicani)

As of August 2023, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species and hybrids. [1] ([N] = formerly placed in Nigritella, [GN] = formerly placed in ×Gymnigritella.)

Hybrids

Further reading

In Literature

Gymnadenia is the title of a novel published in 1929 in Norwegian by Nobel Prize winning author Sigrid Undset. [13] The novel was translated into English by Arthur G. Chater and published in 1931 as The Wild Orchid. [14]

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <i>Gymnadenia conopsea</i> Species of orchid

    Gymnadenia conopsea, commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe.

    <i>Dactylorhiza fuchsii</i> Species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae

    Dactylorhiza fuchsii, the common spotted orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae.

    <i>Orchis</i> Genus of orchids

    Orchis is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), occurring mainly in Europe and Northwest Africa, and ranging as far as Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. The name is from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids.

    <i>Dactylorhiza majalis</i> Species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae

    Dactylorhiza majalis, the broad-leaved marsh orchid, is a terrestrial Eurasian orchid.

    <i>Gymnadenia corneliana</i> Species of orchid

    Gymnadenia corneliana is a species of orchid with light-pink petals, found only in the Southwestern Alps in a small region near the France-Italy border. It was first catalogued by Swiss botanist Gustave Beauverd. Some specimens of this orchid display slightly darker petals, although this is uncommon. This flower, like many orchids in its genus, is said to emit a pleasant odor resembling that of vanilla.

    <i>Gymnadenia widderi</i> Species of orchid

    Gymnadenia widderi is a species of orchid native to the central Alps and central Italy.

    Vicarage Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Abergwesyn, Powys, Wales.

    <i>Gymnadenia <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> chanousiana</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymnadenia × chanousiana, common name Chanous' gymnadenia, is a natural hybrid between Gymnadenia conopsea and Nigritella rhellicani.

    <i>Gymnadenia rhellicani</i> Species of orchid

    Gymnadenia rhellicani is a European species of orchid.

    <i>Gymnadenia austriaca</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymnadenia austriaca is a species of plant in the family Orchidaceae. It is endemic to the Alps and the Pyrenees, where it grows on calcareous alpine grassland from 1,500–2,500 metres (4,900–8,200 ft). It was first described by Teppner and Klein as a subspecies of Nigratella nigra and was subsequently reclassified as G. austriaca as an apomictic member of the G. nigra group within the genus Gymnadenia.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Rhellicanus</span> Protestant scholar in Switzerland, botanist c. 1478-1542

    Johannes Müller was a Swiss clergyman and theologian of the Reformation in Switzerland, philologist and philosopher, noted for his work in early modern botany.

    <i>Gymnadenia archiducis-joannis</i> Species of flowering plant

    Nigritella archiducis-joannis is a species of orchid endemic to a few locations in Totes Gebirge, the Dachstein, the Karawanken, the Koralpe – that is the Austrian states Styria, Upper Austria, Salzburg und Carinthia – as well as Triglav National Park.

    <i>Gymnadenia stiriaca</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymandenia stiriaca, the Salzkammergut vanilla orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Austria.

    <i>Gymnadenia lithopolitanica</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymandenia lithopolitanica, the Austrian gymnadenia, is a species of orchid endemic to a portion of the eastern Alps spanning Austria and Slovenia.

    <i>Gymnadenia bicolor</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymandenia bicolor is a species of orchid occurring in the Eastern Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Carpathian Mountains. It is very similar to Gymnadenia miniata and often seen as a variation and not a separate species.

    <i>Gymnadenia miniata</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymandenia miniata is a species of orchid native to the Eastern Alps and Carpathian Mountains. It is similar in appearance to Gymnadenia bicolor; both species were split from a former less defined taxon Nigritella rubra which referred to all red flowering Gymnadenia.

    <i>Gymnadenia hygrophila</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymandenia hygrophila is a species of orchid occurring in the southeastern Alps in Italy and Austria.

    <i>Gymnadenia dolomitensis</i> Species of flowering plant

    Gymnadenia dolomitensis is a species of orchid found in the Dolomites mountain range of Italy.

    Gymnadenia minor is a species of orchid endemic to Austria.

    References

    1. 1 2 "Gymnadenia R.Br". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
    2. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
    3. ↑ Flora of China, v 25 p 133, 手参属 shou shen shu, Gymnadenia R. Brown in W. T. Aiton, Hortus Kew., ed. 2. 5: 191. 1813.
    4. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, Manina rosea, Fragrant Orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea (L.) R. Br.
    5. ↑ Biota of North America Program, county distribution map
    6. ↑ Alok K. Gupta; Ines Schauvinhold; Eran Pichersky; Florian P. Schiestl (2014). "Eugenol synthase genes in floral scent variation in Gymnadenia species" (PDF). Functional & Integrative Genomics . 14 (4): 779–788. doi:10.1007/s10142-014-0397-9. hdl: 20.500.11850/91540 . PMID   25239559. S2CID   17207240.
    7. ↑ "Gymnadenia × chanousiana". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    8. ↑ "Gymnadenia × delphineae". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    9. ↑ "Gymnadenia × eggeriana". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    10. ↑ "Gymnadenia × godferyana". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    11. ↑ "Gymnadenia × truongiae". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    12. ↑ "Gymnadenia × turnowskyi". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2020-08-06.
    13. ↑ Undset, Sigrid (1929). Gymnadenia (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Aschehoug.
    14. ↑ Undset, Sigrid (1931). The Wild Orchid. Translated by Chater, Arthur G. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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