OPHRYS CRETICA subsp. BICORNUTA

Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE

Common Names:- Two-horned Cretan ophrys

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Ophrys (L) Eye-brow, a name used by the Roman naturalist and

philosopher Pliny.

Cretica (L) From Crete, Cretan.

Bicornuta (L) Two-horned.

General description:- Short to medium perennial.

Stem:-

1) 15-40 cm. tall.

Leaves:-

1) Basal, oval to lanceolate blunt.

2) Cauline, narrower and pointed.

Flowers:-

1) Sepals, whitish to pinkish-red, also greenish with a red tinge.

2) Petals, red to red-brown.

3) Labellum, basic velvety black to black-brown, with sharply-pointed horns,

directed forwards and to the sides, which are often glabrous and lighter in colour

towards the middle lobe. H-shaped striped blazon of the lip, often without any

contact to the base of the lip, frequently enclosing small blue or violet, hairless

areas. The linear marking is limited to the middle lobe and does not extend over

the side humps.

4) Stigmatic cavity, widely horizontal oval in shape, white, and sharply defined from

the deep-black lip through a black horizontal line above the white to sky-blue

edged pseudo-eyes, which are connected by another, broken sky-blue to red-

violet horizontal line.

Key features:-

1) Stigma cavity, large.

2) Pointed lateral humps.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, fallow terraces, olive groves. 0-500 m.

Distribution:- Endemic Crete & Aegean. Confined to east Crete, where is is fairly

common.

Flowering time:- Early Mar to early Apr.

Photos by:- Manolis Afrathianakis