Family: cuckoo orchids (Orchidaceae)
Flowering time: May–June
Size: 15–50 cm
Habitat: dry meadows, forest edges and light forests
The bee orchid (Ophrys apifera) is a robust representative of its genus. At the top of the stem, leafy with lanceolate leaves, an inflorescence develops, consisting of 4 to 12 large flowers. White to dark pink, lanceolate outer petals are 11 to 17 mm long. Along the middle there is a green band. The lateral ones protrude sideways, the upper one is more or less distinctly backward-protruding. The inner floral petal is small, 1 to 3 mm long, and densely short-haired. The velvety, oval-shaped, dark brown honey lip is 9 to 14 mm long. Its lower edge is clothed with longer white to yellowish hairs. A pale to yellow-edged bluish pattern on the honey lip has the shape of the letter U. The ridges on the honey lip are covered with long protruding hairs. The column bearing the pollinia is elongated into a so-called beak on the bee-like cat's ear.
The bee orchid thrives on barren, primarily calcareous soils. In Slovenia it occurs on warm habitats here and there across western, central and eastern Slovenia, but it is very rare in its interior. The species is listed as endangered plants of Slovenia and is protected here, so let us admire this particular plant in the wild and do not collect it.
