Ophrys apifera

For other plants also called "bee orchid", see bee orchid.

Ophrys apifera
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Genus: Ophrys
Species:
O. apifera
Binomial name
Ophrys apifera
Synonyms[1]
  • Orchis apifera (Huds.) Salisb.
  • Arachnites apifera (Huds.) Hoffm.
  • Ophrys chlorantha Hegetschw. & Heer
  • Ophrys insectifera var. andrachnites

Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Ophrys, in the family of Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.[2]

  1. ^ Fabio Conti; Fabrizio Bartolucci (2015). The Vascular Flora of the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (Central Italy): An Annotated Checklist Geobotany Studies (illustrated ed.). Springer. p. 124. ISBN 9783319097015.
  2. ^ Royal Society – Pre-adaptations and the evolution of pollination by sexual deception: Cope’s rule of specialization revisited