SPECIES DESCRIPTION
SERAPIAS BERGONII
Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE
Common Names:- Ploughshare orchid
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Serapias (Gr) After Serapis an Egyptian deity, a name used by the
Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides for an orchid.
Bergonii (L) After the French botanist Monsieur P. Bergon.
.
General description:- Tuberous slender perennial.
Stem:-
1) Generally 15-30 cm tall, suffused purple.
Leaves:-
1) Narrowly lanceolate, canaliculate, grey-green.
2) Basal, sheath-leaves, green.
Flowers:-
1) Spike, narrow, 3-10-flowered.
2) Bracts erect, lanceolate to narrowly elliptical, cymbiform, usually longer than
the corresponding flower, with a silvery ground colour and conspicuous, reddish-
purple veins.
3) Sepals and petals, connivent with the lower part of the labellum (hypochile), to
form a tube.
4) Labellum, scarcely constricted between the hypochile and epichile.
a) upper part of the epichile, 10-18 mm, narrowly triangular-lanceolate, sharply
reflexed, bearded at the base, usually dull purple.
Key features:-
1) Lobes of the epichile, forward-directed, subacute.
2) Epichile, lanceolate, less than 2/3 as wide as the (flattened) hypochile.
Habitat:- Seasonally damp, open habitats such as grassland, fallow terraces, olive
groves and meadow-like patches in dry open shrubby vegetation. 0-800(1200) m.
Distribution:- Italy, Greece, W & S Anatolia and Cyprus.Widespread and common
on Crete.
Flowering time:- Apr to early June
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
— Lobes of epichile forward-directed, subacute . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . S. bergoniz
— Epichile lanceolate, less than 2/3 as wide as (?at-
tened) hypochile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 5
Serapias bergonii E. G. Camus — Map 2454
Syn.: S. hellenica Renz; S. vomeracea subsp. laxz?ora
(S06) G612 & H. R. Reinhard
Plant slender, generally l5~30 cm tall.
Basal leaves narrowly lanceolate, canaliculate. Stem
Flowers in a narrow spike. Bracts erect, lanceolate
to narrowly elliptical, boat-shaped, usually longer than
the corresponding ?ower, with a silvery ground colour
and conspicuous, reddish-purple veins.
Sepals and petals connivent with the lower part of the labellum (hypochile)
to form a tube. Upper part of labellum (epichile) 10-
18 mm, narrowly triangular-lanceolate, sharply re?exed,
bearded at base, usually dull purple. Labellum scarcely
constricted between hypochile and epichile.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . S. bergoniz
— Epichile lanceolate, less than 2/3 as wide as (?at-
tened) hypochile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 5
Serapias bergonii E. G. Camus — Map 2454
Syn.: S. hellenica Renz; S. vomeracea subsp. laxz?ora
(S06) G612 & H. R. Reinhard
Plant slender, generally l5~30 cm tall.
Basal leaves narrowly lanceolate, canaliculate. Stem
Flowers in a narrow spike. Bracts erect, lanceolate
to narrowly elliptical, boat-shaped, usually longer than
the corresponding ?ower, with a silvery ground colour
and conspicuous, reddish-purple veins.
Sepals and petals connivent with the lower part of the labellum (hypochile)
to form a tube. Upper part of labellum (epichile) 10-
18 mm, narrowly triangular-lanceolate, sharply re?exed,
bearded at base, usually dull purple. Labellum scarcely
constricted between hypochile and epichile.
