We has stopped at the side of a road with a wide verge which looked good for orchids to me. As usual I chose the barren side and my wife found the one and only Ophrys fusca ssp iricolor which we saw on this trip to southern Spain.

Taxonomy: Although local floras such as those by Giovanni Quitadamo and the much read and quoted Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East by Pierre Delforge give this species the name Ophrys iricolor Desf., the main databases such as World Checklist etc. say this plant is correctly named Ophrys fusca ssp iricolor (Desf.) K.Richt.

Ophrys fusca ssp iricolor Rainbow Ophrys Roadside verge near lake district of Andalucia, Spain 27th March 2008 Previous   Next

Ophrys fusca ssp iricolor

Roadside verge near lake district of Andalucia, Spain 27th March 2008

Added on 2nd November 2008, updated 12th January 2010, updated 20th January 2011