SPECIES DESCRIPTION
SERAPIAS LINGUA Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE Common Names:- Tongue orchid Homotypic Synonyms:- Damasonium lingua, Helleborine lingua, Orchis lingua, Serapiastrum lingua. Meaning:- Serapias (Gr) After Serapis an Egyptian deity, a name used by the Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides for an orchid. Lingua (L) Tongue-shaped. . General description:- Tuberous perennials with unspotted leaves. Stem:- 1) Usually 10-30 cm tall, slender. Leaves:- 1) Narrow, canaliculate, acute, entire, usually shiny, the first 4-8 vary from linear to lanceolate, concave to carinate, 5-13 cm long. Flowers:- 1) Spike, slender, elongate, 3-6(-9)-flowered. Flowers 15-25 mm; outer perianth- segments ovate-lanceolate, acute, concave, free at the apex, violet or purple, rarely white, sometimes with greenish markings. 2) Bracts, erect, shorter than the flowers, lanceolate, cymbiform, usually silvery- grey with purple veins. 3) Sepals, and petals resembling bracts, but shorter, connivent and forward- directed, together with the deep purple lateral lobes of the hypochile forming a tunnel leading to a circular, blackish-purple hole framed by a callosity. 4) Epichile, pendent or usually forward-directed, c. 15 mm, narrowly ovate, acute to acuminate, often pale (yellowish or pink), sometimes purple. Key features:- 1) Base of labellum, with a circular, blackish-purple hole framed by a callosity Click here for a glossary of terms used. Habitat:- Seasonally damp spots in dry open shrubby vegetation, scrubland vegetation, grassland and olive groves, usually on non-calcareous substrates. 0-600(-1100) m. Distribution:- Rather common in coastal areas of W Greece, not the interior. - SW Europe Widespread and the Mediterranean region eastwards to the Aegean area. Somewhat scattered distribution across Crete, but more common in the west. Flowering time:- Apr-May. Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis