SPECIES DESCRIPTION
OPHRYS BOMBYLIFLORA
Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE
Common Names:- Bumble bee orchid
Homotypic Synonyms:- Arachnites bombyliflorus
Meaning:- Ophrys (L) Eye-brow, a name used by the Roman naturalist and
philosopher Pliny.
Bombyliflora (L) Bumble-bee flowered.
General description:- Short, compact perennial.
Stem:-
1) To 25 cm tall, though often less.
Leaves:-
1) Basal, oblong-lanceolate, forming a flattish rosette;
2) Cauline, erect, semi-amplexicaul.
Flowers:-
1) Spike, relatively dense,1-5 flowered.
2) Flowers, small, bumblebee-like.
3) Sepals, 9-12 mm, obliquely ovate to broadly elliptical, patent or ± reflexed,
yellowish-green.
4) Petals, short (3-4 mm), triangular-ovate, yellowish-green.
5) Labellum, 8-10 mm, with dark, velvety brown ground colour, 3-lobed;
a) side lobes; well-developed, bulging, shaggy.
b) middle lobe, obovate, obtuse to emarginate, with a short, ± concealed point,
mirror obscure, H-shaped.
6) Column, short, rounded.
Key features:-
1) Inner perianth-segments, purplish or blackish-violet, at least at the base.
2) Labellum, 8-10 mm, deeply 3-lobed, the lateral lobes gibbous and deflexed so
that the labellum appears globose-inflated.
Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, fallow terraces, seasonally damp grassland,
archaeological sites. 0-800 m.
Distribution:- Fairly common in coastal areas of W Greece. Widespread in the
Mediterranean area to SW Anatolia in the east. reasonably widespread and
common on Crete.
Flowering time:- Late Feb to early May.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
