Anacamptis is a small Eurasian genus of terrestrial orchids in the family Orchidaceae, subfamily Orchidoideae, tribe Orchideae, subtribe Orchidinae. The genus was established in 1817 by the French botanist Louis Claude Richard in De Orchidibus Europaeis, and the pyramidal orchid (A. pyramidalis) was designated as its type species. The name is derived from the Greek anakamptein, "to bend," a reference to the structure of the flower.
For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the species now recognised in Anacamptis were dispersed across the catch-all genus Orchis. Molecular work at the close of the twentieth century reorganised that complex, and roughly one-third of the former Orchis species were transferred into a redefined Anacamptis. The currently accepted circumscription includes around eleven species, although global databases such as GBIF list more than a hundred names at species and subspecies rank once synonyms and infraspecific taxa are counted. A distinguishing morphological feature of the genus is the basal fusion of the three sepals — a character shared with very few other Orchidinae.
The genus is centred on the Mediterranean basin and ranges from western Europe and North Africa eastward across the Middle East to Iran and Central Asia. Plants are tuberous perennials of open habitats, typically calcareous grasslands, limestone and chalk slopes, dune systems, damp meadows, and Mediterranean maquis. They tend to favour alkaline substrates and full sun, and the type species has been recorded up to about 1,600 metres elevation. Like most temperate terrestrial orchids, Anacamptis species depend on mycorrhizal partners — fungi in genera such as Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and Papulaspora — for germination and seedling establishment, and their flowers are pollinated by Lepidoptera, with butterflies and moths in genera including Euphydryas, Melanargia, Melitaea, Pieris, and Zygaena known to carry the paired pollinia first described in detail by Charles Darwin.
Several members of the genus are familiar wildflowers across Europe: the pyramidal orchid (A. pyramidalis), the green-winged orchid (A. morio), the butterfly orchid (A. papilionacea), the bug orchid (A. coriophora), the lax-flowered orchid (A. laxiflora), and the marsh orchid A. palustris. The tubers of several species have historically been collected to make salep, a starchy product still used in hot drinks, breads, and traditional Turkish ice cream. Anacamptis pyramidalis is widespread enough to be listed as Least Concern by IUCN and was named Orchid of the Year in Germany in 1990, while in the United Kingdom it serves as the county flower of the Isle of Wight. No Anacamptis species is recorded in the IUCN Global Invasive Species Database.
Etymology
The genus name Anacamptis comes from the Greek verb anakamptein, "to bend," which describes the curving form of the flower or its spur — the morphological feature Richard chose to highlight when he split the genus from Orchis in 1817.
History
Anacamptis was erected by Louis Claude Richard in his 1817 treatise De Orchidibus Europaeis. For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the species now placed here were absorbed into Orchis; the late twentieth-century revision of the Orchis complex pulled roughly a third of those species back out into a redefined Anacamptis.
Taxonomy
Anacamptis Rich. is an accepted genus of family Orchidaceae (order Asparagales), assigned to subfamily Orchidoideae, tribe Orchideae, and subtribe Orchidinae. The type species is Anacamptis pyramidalis. Current circumscriptions recognise about eleven species, while GBIF's nomenclator records 109 descendant species and infraspecific taxa once synonyms are included. A diagnostic character is the basal fusion of the three sepals, which separates Anacamptis from related Orchidinae genera.
Distribution
The genus is essentially Mediterranean-centred and ranges across Eurasia, with records from western Europe and North Africa east through the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East to Iran and Central Asia. The type species A. pyramidalis spans this whole range, including an alpine subsp. tanayensis recognised in the Swiss flora.
Ecology
Anacamptis species are tuberous terrestrial orchids of open, sunny habitats: calcareous grasslands, limestone and chalk slopes, sand dunes, damp meadows, and Mediterranean maquis. They tolerate alkaline soils and occur from sea level to over 1,600 m elevation in the type species. Pollination is by Lepidoptera — butterflies and moths in genera such as Euphydryas, Melanargia, Melitaea, Pieris, and Zygaena — that pick up the paired pollinia on their proboscises, a mechanism Darwin examined in detail. Seedling germination and establishment depend on mycorrhizal partnerships with soil fungi in Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and Papulaspora.
Conservation
The type species A. pyramidalis is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List and was named Orchid of the Year in Germany in 1990 in recognition of habitat-related concerns. No Anacamptis species appears in the IUCN Global Invasive Species Database.
Cultural uses
The tubers of several Anacamptis species, like those of other temperate terrestrial orchids, have long been collected to produce salep — a starchy powder used in hot beverages, baked goods, and traditional Turkish ice cream (dondurma). Anacamptis pyramidalis is also a recognised emblematic plant: it was designated the county flower of the Isle of Wight in 2002.
