Sombre bee orchid
Ophrys fusca
Family · Orchidaceae · Harmless
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The earliest-flowering wild orchid in the Peninsula, often already in January, and the easiest to find in southern scrub and pine woods. The velvety brown lip mimics an insect resting back-up.
Scrubland · Fields and pasture · Pine woods · Montado
Also known asdark bee orchid
How to tell it
A dark brown or purple lip covered in short velvet-like hairs, three-lobed, with a dull greyish patch in the middle and a yellowish rim along the margin. Yellow-green sepals. Few flowers per stem.
What it is confused with
Bee orchid
Ophrys apifera
Bee orchid has clearly visible pink sepals and a brown lip with yellow markings that really do look like a bee; sombre bee orchid has green sepals and a dull brown lip, far more discreet.
What it is for
None
Like the mirror orchid, it deceives male insects rather than offering nectar, and each species in the genus fools a different bee or wasp.
The law says
Protected by CITES and national law, like all wild orchids.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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