Himantoglossum hircinum

Tuberous perennial of the Orchidaceae family, the lizard orchid is widespread in Western and Central Europe, from the Mediterranean basin to England and Germany. It colonizes dry calcareous lawns, sunny slopes, edges of light woods, and grassy embankments, generally in plains and hills, more rarely up to 1,000 meters in altitude.

The plant is robust and upright, reaching 30 to 80 cm in height. The basal leaves, broad and bright green, appear in autumn and persist through winter, a notable characteristic in a European orchid. The floral spike, dense and cylindrical, can bear up to 80 tight flowers. Each flower presents a greenish helmet streaked with brown-violet and a trilobed labellum of spectacular length, which can exceed 5 cm, with the central lobe twisting into a ribbon-like strap, cream to pinkish, evoking a twisted strap. It is this extraordinarily elongated labellum, unique among European orchids, that gives the genus its name — himanto meaning strap in Greek.

The powerful goat-like smell that emanates from the plant in bloom, noticeable from a distance, is its other immediately recognizable characteristic. In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from May to July. Not cultivable in ordinary gardens due to its dependence on specific mycorrhizae, it is occasionally found in reconstituted, infrequently mown calcareous meadows.