Anacamptis pyramidalis

Widespread across Europe and the Mediterranean basin, extending into North Africa, Anacamptis pyramidalis, the pyramidal orchid, is a terrestrial orchid growing from two ovoid tubers renewed each year. It forms a rosette of linear-lanceolate basal leaves up to 25 cm long, and a flowering stem 10 to 60 cm tall. Between May and July it produces a dense, pyramidal spike of up to a hundred small, lightly scented flowers, bright pink to purple and occasionally white. It favours calcareous grassland, dunes and sunny banks, in well-drained, alkaline soil, requiring a dry summer dormancy once foliage dies back.