Orchis.

Orchis coriophora Linn. Orchideae. Bug Orchis.

Europe and adjoining Asia. In the Levant, its dried root is cooked and eaten and is also used to furnish salep.

Orchis longicruris Link.

Mediterranean region. This orchid furnishes a portion of the salep of commerce.

Orchis mascula Linn. Spotted Orchis.

Europe and Asia Minor. The spotted orchis yields part of the inferior English salep. In the Peloponnesus, its dried root is cooked and eaten.

Orchis militaris Linn.

North Asia and Europe. This orchid produces a starchy, mucilaginous substance known as salep, obtained by macerating the pulp in water.

Orchis morio Linn. Gandergoose. Salep Orchis.

Europe and adjoining Asia. In the Levant, the dried root is cooked and eaten. This is one of the species which furnishes salep to commerce.

Orchis pyramidalis Linn.

Europe and north Africa. This is one of the species used to furnish salep to commerce.

Orchis ustulata Linn.

Europe. This is one of the species which furnish salep to commerce. Large quantities of salep are prepared in, Macedonia and Greece, but the finest comes from Turkey. In the Himalayas and Kashmir regions, many species of bulbous-rooted orchids yield salep, which is largely used as food by the natives.


Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.