Ophrys umbilicata ssp umbilicata Carmel Bee Orchid
In an Olive grove in the middle of nowhere on this Aegean island of Euboea, we found quite a few orchids including this excellent specimen of Carmel Bee Orchid. This was a pleasant change because the island was suffering from a drought. It hadn't rained for weeks and many of the expected orchid species just hadn't emerged this Spring.
Ophrys umbilicata ssp umbilicata is found in Albania, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece but is often known by a synonym: Ophrys attica. This is a name given in Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East by Pierre Delforge on the grounds that it appears to have a different pollinator from Ophrys umbilicata.
World Plants online and Kew are not impressed.
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| Ophrys umbilicata ssp umbilicata Carmel Bee Orchid |
Hinterland of Music Lodge Hotel, Euboea, Greece 2nd April 2024
Added on 13th May 2024