Комперия

Family: Orchidaceae. It grows in light deciduous (more rarely in mixed) forests, at forest edges and glades, exclusively on limestone, in the Mediterranean region of Crimea and Asia Minor.

Комперия is one of the most unusual and ornamental of our orchids, growing exclusively on limestone in only a few localities of the South Coast of Crimea in light juniper, more rarely deciduous and mixed forests, at forest edges and glades. Outside Crimea - only in Turkey.

The plant has an ovoid tuber. Stems up to 50 cm high, 5 - 7 mm thick; at the base with 2 - 4 oblong-lanceolate leaves, narrowed toward the base, 6 - 13 cm long. The raceme is straight, loose, up to 17 cm long, of 3 - 10 (rarely 25) flowers. Bracts linear-lanceolate, acute, whitish-greenish or purple, equal to or slightly exceeding the ovary. Flowers large. The outer perianth segments are fused for 3/4 of their length into an ovoid hood, obtusely three-toothed at the top, brownish dark purple, greenish at the base, up to 1.8 cm long. The lip is large, whitish-pink, above at the base and in the middle covered with minute papillae, three-lobed, with triangular lobes bearing 3 veins each and continuing into filiform appendages - "whiskers", reaching 7 cm in length, pale greenish or greenish-purple. In the bud the "whiskers" are coiled in a spiral. The middle lobe continues into two such "whiskers", the lateral lobes each into one. The spur is cylindrical, blunt, up to 1.8 cm long. The ovary is spindle-shaped, slightly twisted. Flowers in May.

Комперия is considered a relict species - one of the few living representatives of the rich flora of the Tertiary period. There are several opinions regarding the function of the whisker-like appendages of the lip. Some believe that the "whiskers" may serve as a guide for flightless small insect pollinators. The well-known orchid specialist Yu. A. Luks [1969] observed how the "whiskers" of Comperia wrapped around the stem of a grass growing nearby; in his view, this may indicate that in the past these appendages served to support the plants (as, for example, in legumes). At present the living conditions of Comperia have changed so much that the need for this function of the "whiskers" has disappeared.

It reproduces only by seeds. It occurs singly or in small groups. An endemic species, rare and disappearing. Highly ornamental. Due to picking for bouquets and digging up for household gardens its numbers have sharply declined. In addition, several of its localities have been destroyed by logging and construction.