Naked man orchid
Orchis italica
Family · Orchidaceae · Harmless
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The orchid whose flowers are little pink figures with arms, legs and a striped helmet, among the densest and showiest in southern limestone scrub.
Scrubland · Fields and pasture · Pine woods · Montado
Also known asItalian orchid, naked man orchid
How to tell it
A dense, almost spherical spike with dozens of pale pink to lilac flowers. Each flower has a helmet of purple-striped sepals and a lip split into four fine straps making two arms and two legs, plus a short strap in the centre. Basal leaves in a rosette, often dark-blotched with a wavy edge.
What it is confused with
Man orchid
Orchis anthropophora
Both make little figures. The man orchid is yellow-green, with a narrow long spike and no spur; the Italian is pink, with a dense rounded spike and a short spur. Neither is picked.
Open sheet →What it is for
None. It is a cousin of the man orchid and makes the same figure, in pink and in far greater numbers per spike. The tubers were harvested for salep, which is the reason never to dig up an orchid.
The law says
Protected by CITES and national law, like all wild orchids. Photograph it, do not pick it.