Morphological, anatomical and ecological studies on some Orchis (Orchidaceae) taxa of Mediterranean region, Turkey

In this study, nine species mainly distributed in Mediterranean (+ Aegean region) region of Turkey were investigated in terms of 15 morphological, 16 anatomical and 5 ecological characteristics. Those species are Orchis anatolica Boiss., Orchis italica Poiret, Orchis laxiflora Lam., Orchis mono L. subsp. mono, Orchis provincialis Balbis ex DC., Orchis purpurea Hudson, Orchis sancta L., Orchis simia Lam., Orchis tridentata Scop. In conclusion, we found that O. laxiflora was characterized by the longest plant height and O. purpurea had the biggest tuber; whereas O. italica was identified by the highest number of leafs and O. purpurea had the longest leaf length and widest leaf width. Additionally, the other species which were characterized by different morphological and anatomical parameters are as follow: O. sancta with the longest bract length, O. italica and O. simia with the longest sepal lengths, O. laxiflora with the shortest and widest labellum, O. simia with the longest petal length, O. sancta with longest caudiculum length, O. anatolica with the longest spur length and O. provincialis with the longest ovary length. Particularly, O. laxiflora and a purpurea species present essential divergence from the aspect of anatomical features of leaf surface in comparison with the other species. Morphological and anatomical traits of the species were attributed to the habitat selections of the species since that character differs along with each species.