Local bee orchid variant

Posted by Swissblad on Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:55 am

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A portrait of the local bee orchid variant: Ophrys apifera var basiliensis

Composite image merged from 8K video stack.

Nikon Z9 with Irix 150mm macro

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.

Large view

Last edited by Swissblad on Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by david fletcher on Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:15 am

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Beautifully done Sinuhe. Like the composition and that it has sets of three repeating in the image.

Make your life spectacular!

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by Swissblad on Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:38 am

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david fletcher wrote: Beautifully done Sinuhe. Like the composition and that it has sets of three repeating in the image.

Thanks Dave - glad you liked it - we were chaffed to find this prime specimen this morning. I just added some minor tweaks - at times I tend to upload my images a wee bit too fast

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by Carol Clarke on Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:43 am

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What a beautiful orchid and image! Surely it is unusual to have a bee orchid that hasn't got darker 'bees' - or am I wrong?

Carol.

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by Swissblad on Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:04 am

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Carol Clarke wrote: What a beautiful orchid and image! Surely it is unusual to have a bee orchid that hasn't got darker 'bees' - or am I wrong?

Carol.

Thanks Carol, - and you are correct, the "normal" bee orchid is much more colourful. The basiliensis variant is a member of the semi hypo-chromatic "chlorantha" family, characterised by their selective loss of colour pigment, as explained in detail here.

The unique feature of the "basiliensis" compared to normal chlorantha, are the large petal-like sepals, which give the flower a distinct 5 lobed structure compared to the usual 3 large petals and 2 diminutively small sepals.

As with all species, it's always exiting to find the rare oddities - and we're glad to see that this population is slowly taking root, in this most unusual industrial locale!

Last edited by Swissblad on Thu Jun 01, 2023 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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by Carol Clarke on Thu Jun 01, 2023 12:32 pm

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Swissblad wrote:
Carol Clarke wrote: What a beautiful orchid and image! Surely it is unusual to have a bee orchid that hasn't got darker 'bees' - or am I wrong?

Carol.
Thanks Carol, - and you are correct, the "normal" bee orchid is much more colourful. The basiliensis variant is a member of the semi hypo-chromatic "chlorantha" family, characterised by their selective loss of colour pigment, as explained in detail here.

The unique feature of the "basiliensis" compared to normal chlorantha, are the large petal-like sepals, which give the flower a distinct 5 lobed structure compared to the usual 3 large petals and 2 diminutively small sepals.

As with all species, it's always exiting to find the rare oddities - and we're glad to see that this population is slowly taking root, in this most unusual industrial locale!

Fascinating! Thanks for the additional information - and so clearly explained, Sinuhe.

Carol.

Carol Clarke
Chief Forum Administrator.

"When the power of love is greater than the love of power,
the world will know peace"....Jimi Hendrix.

NSN0067

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by Axel Hildebrandt on Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:50 pm