Dactylorhiza romana(Sebast.) Soó - Roman orchid
Scientific Description:
Plants 15–40 cm. Base of stem with 2–3 large brownish sheaths, enclosing the numerous linear to lanceolate leaves. Spike shortly cylindrical. Bracts herbaceous, exceeding the violet-purple, dull red or yellow (sometimes whitish) flowers. Sepals oblong, to 13 × 5 mm; lateral sepals ± reflexed. Petals obliquely ovate, 10 × 4–7 mm. Labellum ± stretched forwards, ovate to broadly ovate, to 15 mm broad, shortly 3-lobed in front, sometimes entire, without dots or lines. Spur 10–25 mm.
subsp. romana
Flowers red to yellow, rather large; labellum usually broader than long, to 15 mm broad; spur cylindrical, longer than ovary, (13–)17–20(–25) mm, curved ± steeply upwards.
Flowering time: April−June.
Habitat: Limestone slopes in macchie and Quercus L. scrub, mixed and coniferous forest, s.1. – 2000 m.
Reference:
Renz J & Taubenheim G (1984). Dactylorhiza romana (Seb.) Soó, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 8: 538.
Public Description:
Dactylorhiza romana, commonly known as “roman orchid”, is native to the Mediterranean Region of southern Europe and northern Africa, the range extending from Türkiye eastward to Iran and Turkmenistan. It is a tuberous perennial herb with showy pink and yellow flowers on a slender stalk. In Türkiye, the tubers of this plant under soil are collected to make a kind of turkish drink "salep" and ice cream. However, this species is also endangered due to excessive dismantling of the plant such as other orchid species.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2017). http://www.habitas.org.uk/europeanorchids/dact_romana.htm, Accessed date: 04.05.2017.
Anonymous 2 (2017). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylorhiza_romana, Accessed date: 04.05.2017.
Güler N (2012). Dactylorhiza Necker ex Nevski, In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 631–635.