Orchid experts throw up their hands over their heads when people give the most beautiful orchid species their own names. Nevertheless, a few appropriate German names for orchids have prevailed, which we can easily remember even without a large Latinum. The following overview introduces you to common designations.

Even if the name puts you off: the spider orchid is a particularly bizarre beauty

Exotic Orchids - How to reconcile scientific and German names

Ever since orchids conquered the supermarkets and hardware stores, the scientific titles have increasingly taken a back seat and given way to sales-promoting German names. To help you reconcile both versions, we have put together the following overview for you:

  • Phalaenopsis: Butterfly Orchid, Moth Orchid, Sunflower
  • Miltonia: Pansy Orchid
  • Vuylstekeara: Cambria
  • Dendrobium: Grape Orchid
  • Pleione: Tibetan orchid
  • Paphiopedilum: Venus slipper
  • Cypripedium: lady's slipper
  • Odontoglossum: Tooth tongue
  • Anguloa: Tulip Orchid
  • Brassia: Spider Orchid
  • Cymbidium: Kahn orchid, Kahnlippe
  • Ludisia: Jewel Orchid
  • Bletilla: Japanese Orchid

In addition, regional trivial names have been established that are intended to make orchids more attractive to buy at flower markets. If you are specifically looking for a special orchid, the scientific name is the only definitive guideline.

Native orchids with scientific and German names

While the scientific names of the exotic orchid species can largely be tied to a single trivial designation, a floral Tower of Babel prevails among the native orchids. The following selection provides an overview:

  • Orchis: Orchid, fool's-cap, purple orchid, helmeted orchid
  • Dactylorhiza: orchid, fingerroot, cuckoo flower
  • Anacamptis: dogbane, orchid, pointed orchid, comb's stem
  • Platanthera: forest hyacinth, mountain hyacinth, mountain cuckoo flower
  • Spiranthes spiralis: Twister, Autumn Twister
  • Ophrys: Orchid, Spider Orchid, Fly Orchid, Bumblebee Orchid
  • Epipactis: thornwort,
  • Cephalanthera: forest birds

Of the exotic orchids, the Cypripedium calceolus is the only one of its kind that has adapted so well to our climate that it can be found in fields and forests. Their best-known German names are yellow women's slippers, Marienfrauenschuhs, red-brown women's slippers or European women's slippers.

tips

In addition to the scientific names for orchid species, other technical terms from Latin and Greek are important for successful care. If we are talking about an epiphytic orchid, it is a plant that grows on trees in the rainforest. Terrestrial species thrive as terrestrial orchids. Lithophytic orchids prefer a spot on rocks and other rocks.

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Indoor plants