Bird's-nest Orchid

Family Orchidaceae. Known in the territory of Western Europe and Asia Minor. The specific name nidus-avis is Latin and means "bird's nest".

The plant has a rather stout rhizome from which numerous thick, short, radially spreading roots arise and form a kind of nest (hence the genus name). Stems up to 45 cm in height, covered with brownish scales and lacking developed leaves. Flowers (up to 60–70) the same color as the stem are gathered in a more or less dense raceme up to 20 cm long. Bracts linear-acuminate, up to 8 mm long. Outer perianth segments obovate, 4–6 mm long. Inner perianth segments slightly shorter. The lip is darker, grayish-brown, considerably longer than the other perianth segments, without a spur, slightly concave at the base, divided into two spreading lobes, rounded at the tip. Ovary up to 8 mm long. Flowers in June–July.

Bird's-nest Orchid reproduces mainly by seed, less often vegetatively (by pieces of the rhizome). Seed production is high. Flowers have a honey scent and are actively visited by insects. Seed germination is subterranean (with the involvement of fungi). In the first years the rhizome develops very slowly — in the 6th year after seed germination it has only 4–5 internodes. Only in the 9th–10th year does the rhizome produce an aboveground generative shoot, which lives briefly — about 2 months — and then withers. The inflorescence does not always manage to break through to the soil surface, and then flowers on a curved scape sometimes develop within the soil layer or in the litter. In that case they may self-pollinate and seeds sometimes germinate right in the capsule located in the soil. After the flowers wither and the seeds mature, the rhizome dies off, but apical buds form on the roots from which new shoots arise, and the whole cycle repeats.