Unknown orchid in the woods

[MysticOrchid]

Hi guys! This what I'm going to share with you is very, very strange orchid, actually I don't exactly know if it is an orchid, but it looks to me like an orchid, because of the shape of the flower and the lip that exists. Seems like this plant is not producing food, because it's NOT green at all. It's all kind of yellow, creamy color, very strange. Maybe it's a parasite orchid, I really don't know. I found it growing next to the road that is passing throw the forest. So, let's take a look..

[Orchidflowerchild]

look up saprophyte orchids. i know there are a few here in america that basically metabolize by proxy through a fungus, but i am not familiar with macedonian terrestrials.

-Ceci

[PaphMadMan]

Yes, looks like a mycotrophic orchid. Possibly Neottia nidus-avis.

[euplusia]

It looks like an orchid at first glance, but I am pretty sure it is an Orobanche species, a parasit that does not produce chlorophyll. Good find anyway.

[samarak]

Like euplasia, my first reaction was also Orobanche. I have no idea which one. Some species are widespread and have large variations in color, and I've only seen species from the western U.S. in person. There are plenty of achlorophyllous orchids too, so I could be wrong, but Orobanche is where I'd look first.

There is a nice gallery of Orobanche pictures here:

Orobanche Photo Gallery

Very cool, whether orchid or not.

Steve

[MysticOrchid]

Originally Posted by samarak

Like euplasia, my first reaction was also Orobanche. I have no idea which one. Some species are widespread and have large variations in color, and I've only seen species from the western U.S. in person. There are plenty of achlorophyllous orchids too, so I could be wrong, but Orobanche is where I'd look first.

There is a nice gallery of Orobanche pictures here:

Orobanche Photo Gallery

Very cool, whether orchid or not.

Steve

Thank you for the gallery.
I checked all of the pictures and I think that this plant definitely is Orobanche species. I am confused between O. alsatica ssp. libanotidis and O. amethystea. It could be one of them

[wuness]

If you think you have the plant narrowed down to two possibilities, and photos aren't helping, you might be able to distinguish them by going to an identification guide and looking at the distribution (or range) of the two. Hopefully the ranges won't overlap.

wuness