For a long time the genus was monotypic, with a single representative, the pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). Then came the zeitgeist and the phylogenetic, evolutionary studies, which demonstrated that a number of “ordinary” orchids (e.g., the green-winged orchid, marsh orchid or bug-scented orchid, as well as Anacamptis papilionacea and A. sancta) actually form a single evolutionary community with the pyramidal orchid—technically a monophyletic unit (meaning that the group contains all descendants of the most recent common ancestor, and only those). Consequently, these species were also placed within the genus Anacamptis.
The validity of this merger is also supported by the fact that all members of the expanded genus can produce hybrids with one another relatively easily, whereas none of them has proved compatible in this respect with any member of the original genus Orchis. Another shared feature is that on the flower most of the perianth segments (sometimes all except the labellum—see the bug-scented orchid; sometimes the inner lateral segments and the median outer one) fold together in a helmet-like shape, which is the origin of the Hungarian name of the genus (although such “helmet formation” can also be observed in other genera—see Orchis, Dactylorhiza, etc.). In any case, the pyaramidal orchid still forms a distinct, isolated group within the new classification. This is also indicated by the fact that—unlike the others—it is pollinated by butterflies, to which it has also morphologically adapted over time. Most species of the genus do not produce nectar (except the bug-scented orchid Anacamptis coriophora and Anacamptis sancta); they deceive their pollinators through visual mimicry.
Some have gone even further in this taxonomic whirlwind. In his 2024 book covering the orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Kreutz places the species split from the genus Orchis into several separate genera instead, under the names Anteriorchis, Paludorchis, Herorchis and Vermeulena. Depending on temperament and conviction, some accept and apply this solution, while others ignore it (this kind of nomenclature is not new anyhow; attempts to establish it have been ongoing for decades). As someone who grew up scientifically on the Atlas of the Orchids of Hungary, I belong to the latter camp: I accept the expansion of the genus Anacamptis as described above, but not the further splitting.
Representatives of the genus can be found almost everywhere in Europe—from the British Isles to the Middle East, Asia Minor and North Africa—with at least one species occurring throughout this range. Within Hungary, four species of Anacamptis occur (or five if the Anacamptis palustris and elegans are treated as separate species), some of them present in exceptionally large populations even by European standards.
