Military Orchid

Did you know

• The common name derives from the flower's lip, which is shaped like a small helmeted soldier with arms and legs — the lobes form a torso, arms, and divided legs while the hood forms a helmet over the 'head.'
• Military orchid is deceptive: it offers no nectar, but its pink flowers resemble nectar-bearing plants such as bird's-foot trefoil and red clover, tricking naive bumblebees into visiting and transferring pollen.
• In Britain, the military orchid was believed to be extinct for almost 40 years until a single plant was discovered at Homefield Wood in Buckinghamshire in 1947 — the site is now a nature reserve managed specifically for the orchid.
• The word 'orchid' itself derives from the Greek 'orchis' (testicle), referring to the paired underground tubers common to this genus — this also lent the plant an ancient reputation as an aphrodisiac in herbalism.
• Military orchid hybridizes with other Orchis species where their ranges overlap, producing fertile hybrids that blend the parental characteristics and sometimes persist at sites where one parent species has declined.

Color meanings

Uses

• ornamental
• conservation indicator