Orchids of Azerbaijani Cemeteries.

In order to explore their orchid flora, we performed surveys of 96 Azerbaijani burial places in 2018 and 2019. Altogether, 28 orchid taxa were found in 37 visited cemeteries. In the orchid diversity a remarkable pattern was observed: geographic latitude was significantly and positively related to the number of taxa and number of individuals. The most widespread and abundant orchids in Azerbaijani graveyards were and (found in 23 and 8 cemeteries, respectively). Azerbaijani cemeteries can be important refuges for rare and threatened orchids, e.g., (three cemeteries), subsp. (eight), (two), (three), (one) and (one). , detected in a single locality, was previously unknown to the flora of Azerbaijan. Additionally, we documented orchid tuber (salep) collection in two cemeteries.