OPHRYS FUSCA subsp. CREBERRIMA

Family and Genus:- See- ORCHIDACEAE

Common Names:- Creberrima orchid

Homotypic Synonyms:- Ophrys Creberrima

Meaning:- Ophrys (L) Eye-brow, a name used by the Roman naturalist and

philosopher Pliny.

Creberrima (L) Densely clustered.

General description:- Short to medium delicate, perennial.

Stem;-

1) Usually less than 15cm rarely more.

Leaves:-

1) Basal, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, mucronate.

2) Cauline, 1-2, lanceolate, acute.

Flowers:-

1) Medium sized with up to 4-5 flowers.

2) Labellum, margins, turned downwards. with a groove at the base, edge of which

is thrown up in a flattish swelling which appears more pronounced because of

the fold of the lip at the base.

3) Blazon, with a wide, intense blue to whitish border in the form of a flat omega,

this border may be coloured from an intense blue to whitish. The base encloses

an area which is often speckled in bluish-grey, and sometimes of a uniform

silver-grey or blue colour.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, dehiscing, by 3 or 6 longitudinal slits.

2) Seeds, numerous, minute, with undifferentiated embryo and no endosperm

Key Features:-.

1) Labellum, margins, turned downwards.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, in seasonally damp spots, olive groves and

fallow terraces. 0-1100 m.

Distribution:- Cretan endemic. Fairly widespread but not common.

Flowering time:- Early Mar to early May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton