Bertoloni's Bee Orchid

Description:

Plant slender to relatively compact, 10-35 cm tall with 2-8 flowers in a lax spike. Sepals rose-coloured, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate-oblong, dorsal sepal shallowly boat-shaped to nearly flat, more or less incurved, from the base reflexed. Petals violet to rose-coloured, narrowly oblong with flat margins, pubescent, spreading to slightly incurved. Lip with blackish brown ground colour, markedly saddle-shaped with recurved sides, entire, shaggy along the margin, velvety on the central part, bulges absent; front edge emarginate, provided with a short, erect, awl-shaped to narrowly triangular point; mirror distinct, transversely elliptic to nearly square, placed on the distal part of the lip without connection to its base, shining greyish blue to greyish violet. Column acute, distinctly tapering towards the base, stigmatic cavity longer than wide and slightly wider than the anther, with dark, lateral, eye-like knobs at base.

Habitat:

Can be found are roadside verges, garrigue, grassland, olive groves and open places in forest and maquis.

Notes:

Ophrys bertolonii is found in the central Mediterranean and is mostly occurring in Italy. The species occurs from Istria in Croatia to Montenegro in the Balkans as well as the Ionian island of Corfu and is found from sea level to 1,450 m altitude.