Vagina

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Female Orchid Classification System

Angel Ring

From an anatomical perspective, the vagina is an orifice which is largely internal, but it does have visible structures which are of interest morphologically. There may be remnants of the hymen or vaginal tissue that are visible when viewing the opening to the vagina.

To save us from having to refer to the anatomically correct name of various forms of carunculae myrtiformes, the FOCS name is angelica’s ring, or angel ring for short. Angelica’s ring is a metaphor from the story of Princess Angelica’s ring – the ring which held the power to make the wearer beautiful to everyone who beheld them. The designation has been appropriated to mean a beautiful hymen like structure.

The following are examples of the angel ring. The more complete angel rings are shown below to set the pattern for what to look for. In reality, the angel ring occurs in many partial forms i.e. three quarter, half or quarter rings and everything in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vaginites

There are tissue projections from the vagina that can range from small finger-like projections to large sections of tissue. In FOCS, these projections are designated as vaginites. The word vaginite (rhymes with overwrite) means “coming from the vagina”. In some cases, it may be an extension to an angel ring. The difference between designating it as a vaginite versus a portion of an angel ring (it may be both) is that by definition, a vaginite protrudes visibly outward from the vagina, even when the orchid is in a closed or slightly closed position. The following examples illustrate this new feature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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