Israel wildflowers: Anatolian Orchid

Orchis anatolica, Anatolian Orchid,
Hebrew: סחלב אנטולי , Arabic: سحلب , اوركيد الاناضول

Scientific name:   Orchis anatolica Boiss.
Common name:   Anatolian Orchid
Hebrew name:   סחלב אנטולי
Arabic name:   سحلب , اوركيد الاناضول
Family:   Orchidaceae, סחלביים


Life form:   Geophyte
Stems:   Up to 40cm in height; dark, reddish stem
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette, entire, smooth
Flowers:   Purple, pink
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Mediterranean maquis and forest, Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral
Protected Flower, צמח מוגן:   Yes


Derivation of the botanical name:

Orchis, ορχιϛ, “testicle” (here, shape of), from the rootform of some species. For that reason, Orchis has been regarded since antiquity as an aphrodisiac.

anatolica, “Anatolia”; of Anatolia, western Turkey.
The Hebrew name: סחלב, sahlav, Arabic sahlab, corrupted from tha’lab in husa al-tha’lab (=the fox’s testicles), the Arabic name of the tubers of the Orchis mascula (so called from the resemblance of the roots to testicles).

  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.