Satyrium longicauda var. longicauda flower stem

Satyrion is an orchid found in Greece. A satyr is (or was, or never was) a two-horned creature, part man, part goat that lived only in Greek mythology. Linnaeus originally named some Greek and other European orchid species Satyrion on account of their scent that resembled the smell of goats. 

Only around 1800 was the name Satyrium conferred upon the African and South African orchid genus bearing flowers characterised by two horn-like spurs emanating from the upper petal, the lip that serves the flower as a hood.

The flower stem of Satyrium longicauda var. longicauda is an annual growth from the perennial underground base, a large, unbranched, tuber. Two leaves from the sterile shoot on the side are spread flat on the ground in the grass, therefore not easily seen or absent at bloom time. Small leaves up along the flowering stem are alternate, broadly stem-clasping with pointed tips.

The large flowers have deeply pink tepal tips here, white in the centre. This has earned the flower the local name of blushing bride orchid. Longicauda means long tail in Latin, probably referring to the twin spurs that become about 4,6 cm long (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; iNaturalist).