The Wild Orchids of Israel: The Complete Guide

The wild orchids of Israel are extraordinary plants—some of them rare—of exceptional and exotic beauty. This book is the fruit of many years of research and in-depth study of the wild orchids of Israel. It was born in pursuit of orchids from Mt. Hermon in the north to the springs in the southern Arava. The first section of the book includes general information on the history of orchid research in Israel, their distribution and prevalence, and endangered orchids and how to conserve them, as well as a list of 93 orchid habitats in Israel. The second section provides up-to-date information on each species of orchid that has been sighted in Israel: its scientific and common names, unique features, measurements, shapes, and colors, flowering season and elevation, habitats, distribution in Israel and worldwide, pollination and pollinators, hybrids, and more. I wrote this book to help you learn how to identify and enjoy these special flowers. The more you get to know them, the more you will love them—and, hopefully, the more we can all work together to protect them. Who will benefit from this book? First of all, this book is for you—the hiker who is not well-versed in classifying flowers, but would like to know their names. The book will help you identify each species easily and quickly by its distinctive characteristics, and by consulting the many images dispersed throughout the book. This book is also for you—the aspiring botanist, looking for more information to expand your knowledge. In these pages, you will find up-to-date information about orchids in Israel and throughout the world: their habitats, their distribution, their flowering seasons in Israel and elsewhere, the distinctions between the various species, their pollination, and all their known pollinators. The written descriptions are accompanied by a wealth of photographs, illustrations, graphs, and tables. The book is also for you, of course—you who suffer from “orchiditis,” willing to drop everything and run to the ends of the Earth just to see a new hybrid that’s been discovered, an unusual flowering phenomenon, or simply to join a challenging “orchid hike” to visit your old friends, hoping to discover something new. Just for you, alongside each species (including the most rare ones), you’ll find the locations of the sites where they can be found and maps to lead you to them. This book is also for you⎯the professional botanist, searching for additional information for an article or study relating to orchids. The book provides the measurements, colors, and shapes of leaves and petals, the dates of flowering seasons, flowering elevation, soil types, and, most importantly, taxonomical considerations regarding identification and nomenclature. But mostly, this book is for anyone who loves nature, and who, like me, has fallen under the spell of this marvelous species. Read more