Characterization of Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)
The Bee orchid is a devious mimic - the flower’s glossy lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species don’t live here, so this orchid is self-pollinated in the UK.the Bee orchid has a rosette of leaves at ground level and two leaves that grow up the stem as a wrapping. The stem displays a number of relatively large flowers with pink sepals that look like wings, and furry, brown lips that have yellow markings on, just like a bee.
Ophrys apifera raice to a height of 6–20 in. This hardy orchid gets older small rosettes of leaves in autumn. They still grow slowly during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. The plant blooms from mid-April. A flower spike is produced, composed of 1 to 12 flowers. The flowers have large sepals, with a central green rib and color varying from white to pink, while petals are short, pubescent, yellow to greenish. The labellum is trilobed, with two pronounced humps on the hairy lateral lobes, the median lobe is hairy and almost like the abdomen of a bee. The labellum is remarkable for displaying a minimum of four distinct colors, additionally to the 2 colors of the sepals and petals.
Bee Orchid native country?
Bee orchid flowers (Ophrys apifera) are native to the U.K, but the flowers are threatened in some areas, largely due to urban development and agriculture. The plant is protected where populations are vulnerable, including Northern Ireland.
This well-known orchid is widespread not just in the UK and Ireland, but can be found in many European countries, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Portugal, and also found in Bulgaria and Slovenia. It occurs as far north in Europe as Holland and Denmark.
Characterization of Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)
The Bee orchid is a devious mimic - the flower’s glossy lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species don’t live here, so this orchid is self-pollinated in the UK.the Bee orchid has a rosette of leaves at ground level and two leaves that grow up the stem as a wrapping. The stem displays a number of relatively large flowers with pink sepals that look like wings, and furry, brown lips that have yellow markings on, just like a bee.
Ophrys apifera raice to a height of 6–20 in. This hardy orchid gets older small rosettes of leaves in autumn. They still grow slowly during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. The plant blooms from mid-April. A flower spike is produced, composed of 1 to 12 flowers. The flowers have large sepals, with a central green rib and color varying from white to pink, while petals are short, pubescent, yellow to greenish. The labellum is trilobed, with two pronounced humps on the hairy lateral lobes, the median lobe is hairy and almost like the abdomen of a bee. The labellum is remarkable for displaying a minimum of four distinct colors, additionally to the 2 colors of the sepals and petals.
Bee Orchid native country?
Bee orchid flowers (Ophrys apifera) are native to the U.K, but the flowers are threatened in some areas, largely due to urban development and agriculture. The plant is protected where populations are vulnerable, including Northern Ireland.
This well-known orchid is widespread not just in the UK and Ireland, but can be found in many European countries, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Portugal, and also fo
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