SERAPIAS PARVIFLORA

Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE

Common Names:- Small flowered tongue orchid

Homotypic Synonyms:- Serapias laxiflora var. parviflora, Serapias lingua

var. parviflora, Serapias longipetala var. parviflora, Serapias occultata var.

parviflora, Serapiastrum parviflorum.

Meaning:- Serapias (Gr) After Serapis an Egyptian deity, a name used by the

Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides for an orchid.

Parviflora (L) Small-flowered.

General description:- Short perennial.

Stem:-

1) 10-35 cm, with green, frequently spotted basal sheaths.

Leaves:-

1) Narrow, linear to lanceolate, canaliculate and often curving upwards, the

2) Basal, sheaths green, usually speckled with red or purple.

Flowers:-

1) Small, borne in a lax spike.

2) Bracts, generally shorter than the flowers, flushed with pale red or purple.

3) Sepals and petals, brownish-red to violet-red, rarely greenish or whitish.

4) Labellum, 13-18 mm long, usually dark red or brownish-red, with two purplish-

black lumps at the base.

a) central lobe, narrow triangular lanceolate.

Key features:-

1) Labellum, 14-18 mm, with epichile 6-10 mm, usually pale yellowish-brown

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Seasonally damp grassland often near the sea, fallow terraces, meadow-

like patches in dry open shrubby vegetation. 0-400(-800) m.

Distribution:- Iberian Peninsula and NW. Africa eastwards to Turkey - absent from

most of the islands except for Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete. Fairly widespread

and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Early Apr to mid-May.

Photos by:- Dr. Armin Jagel