Wild orchids is a species of orchids found in Greece and among other Southern European countries.You can find them at the National park of Pindus, Zagori region but also on Hydra's mountains!
A key ingredient for the production of salep, a popular sweet drink, and Turkey's mastic ice cream dondurma.
The wild orchids are strictly protected under Greek laws.
Traditional orchid collection in the 1960’s was done by hand, using a specially-made small adze, and was a tiresome job that few elected to do. Harvesting started in June when the flowering season was over and harvesters would replace the old bulbs in the soil so they would find more the following year.
While ornamental orchids can be cultivated, the same was not true of wild orchids, whose reproductive biology was more unusual.
Orchids are directly dependent on their symbiosis with fungi that live in the soil and support their development in the first stages of life, something that makes their cultivation difficult. In spite of this, many research efforts are underway in Turkey, Greece and elsewhere in Europe.
According to a Greek team of scientists from Athens-Macedonian news agency (ANA-MPA), finding ways to cultivate the plants is the only solution for their protection. They say authorities must find ways to sustainably manage wild plants in Greece that are the focus of great commercial interest.
