Ophrys apollonae

Ophrys apollonae, the Apollona bee-orchid, is a very early flowering terrestrial species of orchid native to Greece (Rhodes, Chios and Samos islands) and Turkey (İzmir and Muğla provinces).[1] Morphologically similar to Ophrys omegaifera, but usually with a short stem and with one (more rarely 2) small flowers, with length just above 1 cm.[2] This bee orchid's lip is 11.7 - 13.7 mm long, much smaller than that of Ophrys omegaifera var. basilissa which is also a very early plant.[3] It is proven that it attracts the bumble bee Anthophora nigriceps, a different pollinator than Ophrys omegaifera. Other differentiating characteristics include the way in which it holds its flowers horizontally out from the top of the stem. Its name is a reference to the village of Apollona which nestles in the Southern foothills of the mountain on which it was discovered and studied.

Apollona bee-orchid
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Monocots
Order:
Asparagales
Family:
Orchidaceae
Subfamily:
Orchidoideae
Genus:
Ophrys
Species:
O. apollonae
Binomial name
Ophrys apollonae
Paulus & M. Hirth, 2009
Synonyms
  • Ophrys omegaifera subsp. apollonae

Local names

References
  1. Nejdet Bozkurt and Hasan Yıldırım (2015), "Türkiye için yeni bir tür kaydı: Ophrys apollonae Paulus & M. Hirth (Orchidaceae)". Bağbahçe Bilim Dergisi 2(2): 20–26 (in Turkish)
  2. Orchids of Greece
  3. Ophrys news-6
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