OPHRYS SCOLOPAX subsp. HELDREICHII

Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE

Common Names:- Marengo orchid

Homotypic Synonyms: Ophrys cornuta subsp. heldreichii, Ophrys heldreichii

Ophrys oestrifera subsp. heldreichii.

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

philosopher Pliny.

Heldreichii (L) After Theodor Heinrich Hermann von Heldreich (1822-

1902). Director of the Athens Botanical Garden.

General description:- Short to medium perennial.

Stem:-

1) To 45 cm tall.

Leaves:-

1) Basal, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, mucronate.

2) Cauline, 1-2, lanceolate, acute.

Flowers:-

1) Spikes, with 3-12 flowers.

2) Sepals, pink or purplish-violet, rarely green or whitish, oblong.

a) middle, erect.

3) Petals, usually the same colour as the sepals, lanceolate-triangular, hairy, up to

half the length of the sepals.

4) Labellum, 13-15 mm long, oval to almost rounded, distinctly 3-lobed, brownish or

blackish-purple, velvety except for a narrow hairless margin, the tip often 3-

toothed. basal bosses of lip small, 5mm long.

5) Speculurn, large, violet or blue to purplish-brown, with a yellow or whitish margin,

H-shaped, or enclosing several rounded or shield-like patches; basal bosses of

the lip small, 5mm long.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, dehiscing, by 3 or 6 longitudinal slits.

2) Seeds, numerous, minute, with undifferentiated embryo and no endosperm

Key features:-

1) Labellum 13-15 mm.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, scrubland vegetation, meadows, open

woodland.

Distribution:- Endemic to Greece, Crete and the Aegean Is. Fairly widespread and

common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton