The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera Hudson) is a rare and protected perennial, growing on semi-dry turf, on limestone, calcareous dunes or in open areas in woodland. They are very unusual. Some years they appear in great numbers, then sometimes only reappear after a decade.
The Bee Orchid occurs all across Europe to the Levant. These hardy orchid grows to a height of 30 cm. They live in a symbiotic relationship with a soil-dwelling fungus.
The Bee orchid develops small rosettes of leaves in autumn. They slowly continue to grow during winter. Flowers appear the following year. Each year, it produces from 1 to 10 flowers on a spike, blooming from June to July. The brown, furry lip resembles and smells like a female bee. This is be used to attract drones to aid in pollination. (apifera means "bee-bearer"). This mimicry is explained under Ophrys. However, the Bee orchid is rarely visited by insects in the northern parts of its distribution area - selfpollination is the rule. The petals are marginal and spread out, colored mauve to pink. The flower is furry to the touch and is quite variable in the pattern of coloration, but usually brownish-red with yellow markings.
The alternate leaves are elliptical and pointed.
habit
Self-pollination: One of the two pollinia bends itself towards the stigma
This strange variety of the bee orchid was described as Ophrysapifera var.
But the orchid should better be called by the older name Ophrysapifera var.
But by far this was not the beginning of the history: The orchid was already known in the century before last and interpreted in completely different ways during the course of time.
The members of the genus Ophrys are the "bee" orchids.
The patterns are variable and there are numerous subspecies and sub-subspecies; the one we photographed, for example, doesn't match exactly Ophrysapifera, or any of the scores of other similar ones in our reference books.
The Ophrys orchids have no medicinal use, and none are toxic.
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