In 2009, I heard on TV that, in about a hundred years time, the emperor penguins of the Antarctic will be almost extinct due to the rise of the temperature of our planet, a fact that will render the living conditions as well as the incubation of these amazing birds very difficult. Then, I thought how numerous our orchids were 20-30 years ago! The rate at which our planet is being destroyed and the animals and plants are becoming extinct is dramatic!

    The book has come to its end. More than thirty years of research and work have been condensed in its six hundred and twenty pages. Perhaps it is not perfect, perhaps for some species research and study have been incomplete, perhaps a certain photograph is not the most representative one, perhaps there are going to be more trips in order to explore all those places where we were not able to go and all these species at which we could not give a closer look and verify –if possible– their existence. But the effort to present all this inexhaustible wealth of our country has been successful, at the greatest degree. And we say “inexhaustible”, because every day we learn something new, the species, the subspecies, the varieties of these beautiful and gorgeous flowers that are around us and never cease to amaze us, are becoming more and more numerous.

Dear reader, together we will discover this exciting and stunning world of Greece’s orchidaceae. There has been a great effort in order to simplify the presentation and to understand, the best way possible, the constantly increasing new species, subspecies and varieties.

    We believe that the present edition constitutes a full record of all names and species referring to Greece, until the middle of 2014. Apparently, two to three species are not found in Greece. However, we included them in order for the persons interested to be able to recognize them if they come across them and in order to complete the listing and enumeration of the Greek wealth.

    Of course, the research for spotting, studying and clarifying certain species does not end. The trip to the incredible and enchanting world of the orchidaceae goes on…