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20 Roubles Ghost Orchid
| Issuer | National Bank of the Republic of Belarus |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Roubles |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a striking split-field composition depicting the Ghost Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) in two contrasting artistic renditions: the left half rendered as a bold, deeply incised graphic silhouette against a frosted background, and the right half as a finely detailed naturalistic relief against a mirror field, together illustrating the plant's characteristic pendant blooms and fleshy spur. A central vertical stem bearing additional floral detail divides the two halves. The Belarusian common name НАДБАРОДНІК БЯЗЛІСТЫ arcs along the upper border in Cyrillic script, while the binomial Latin designation Epipogium aphyllum is inscribed along the lower border. |
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| Reverse lettering | Надбароднік бязлісты Epipogium aphyllum |
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| Additional information |
Belarus has issued silver nature series coins prolifically since the early 2000s, and the Ghost Orchid entry sits within one of the more crowded programs in Eastern European commemorative minting. The Ghost Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) is genuinely rare in the wild — it has no chlorophyll, cannot photosynthesize, and depends entirely on a specific soil fungus to survive, making it nearly impossible to cultivate and notoriously difficult to locate in any given year.
It was famously "lost" to British botanists for over a century before a confirmed sighting in 2009.