Günther's Site - Photos of European Orchids - Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis

Navigation	Search for a plant:
	Genus names can be abbreviated by 3 letters, e.g. tul cypria

		Ophrys exaltata TEN. subsp. arachnitiformis GREN. & M.PHILIPPE

Fam.: Orchidaceae / Orchid Family

Synon.: Ophrys arachnitiformis GREN. & M.PHILIPPE, Ophrys arachnitiformis GREN. & M.PHILIPPE subsp. occidentalis SCAPPAT., Ophrys exaltata TEN. subsp. marzuola GENIEZ, MELKI & SOCA, Ophrys gallica LOOKEN

Genus: Ophrys L.

Very early flowering Ophrys, which for many years have been called arachnitiformis, are found between northeastern Spain and western Liguria, however mainly along the French Mediterranean coast. According to the investigations of PAULUS and GACK (1999) in Jour.Eur.Orch.31(2) the orchids are pollinated by the bee Colletes cunicularius.

In the last years there were again and again attempts, to separate the western arachnitiformis, which has usually a green perigon, from the eastern arachnitiformis with white to pink perianth. The western partial population is distributed from northeastern Spain to over the Rhone in France, as well as along the Rhone valley almost up to Lyon, few populations have also been found near the French Atlantic coast. These plants with green perigon have been described in 2002 by Remy SOUCHE (Romieg SOCA) and others as Ophrys exaltata subsp. marzuola, and by Gil SCAPPATICCI as Ophrys arachnitiformis subsp. occidentalis, and thus separated from the eastern arachnitiformis s.str. Another name is Ophrys gallica by LOOKEN 2000. The question is whether one of these solutions can satisfy, which only would be the case, if the transitions were not flowing. But this is the case, and Scappaticci has described these frequently occurring intermediates between western and eastern arachnitiformis already as hybrids.

In 2006 in Natural. belges 87 (Orchid. 19): 228-251 Devillers and Devillers-Terschuren stated according to old herbarium specimens that Ophrys passionis SENNEN is the correct name for the archnitiformis s.l. populations in lowlands of Languedoc and Catalogne. They separate the corresponding orchids from Rhone valley as Ophrys occidentalis, and call those from the coast of the Provence Ophrys arachnitiformis. The species similar to Ophrys garganica, which up to then had been called Ophrys passionis, was re-described with the new name Ophrys caloptera.

Two clans from the region of Les Sables-d'Olonne at the French Atlantic Coast have been separated as Ophrys suboccidentalis and Ophrys suboccidentalis subsp. olonae in L'Orchidophile 2017. P. DELFORGE (2019 in JEO) regards Ophrys suboccidentalis as identical to Ophrys massiliensis, and its subsp. olonae as a hybrid population between this and other Ophrys sphegodes-like species of the region, which he recombines as hybridogenous species Ophrys x olonae.

Authors:
	TEN.:	Michele Tenore (1780 - 1861), Italian botanist at Naples
	GREN.:	Jean Charles Marie Grenier (1808 - 1875), French botanist
	M.PHILIPPE:	Mathieu-Yves Philippe (1810 - 1869), French botanist
	SCAPPAT.:	Gil Scappatici (1960 - ), French orchid specialist
	GENIEZ:	Philippe Geniez (1960 - ), French zoologist and botanist
	MELKI:	Fréderic Melki (1960 - ), French pharmacist and botanist
	SOCA:	Remy Souche (alias Romieg Soca, 1951 - ), French orchid specialist
	LOOKEN:	Herman van Looken, Belgian orchid specialist in Southern France
	L.:	Carl von Linné (Linnaeus, 1707 - 1777), Swedish naturalist who introduced the binary naming system for plants and animals

Etymology:
	Ophrys:	Greek plant name, from ophrys = eyebrow
	exaltata:	raised
	arachnitiformis:	spider-like
	occidentalis:	Western, from the occident
	marzuola:	in flower in March
	gallica:	French


Fig. 1: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid E Catalunya Solsona 31.3.2001


Fig. 2: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid E Catalunya Solsona 31.3.2001


Fig. 3: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid E Catalunya Solsona 31.3.2001


Fig. 4: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid E Catalunya L'Escala 9.4.2004


Fig. 5: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid E Catalunya L'Escala 9.4.2004


Fig. 6: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Landes 18.3.2023 (Photo: Helmut Presser)


Fig. 7: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Landes 18.3.2023 (Photo: Helmut Presser)


Fig. 8: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Landes 18.3.2023 (Photo: Helmut Presser)


Fig. 9: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Landes 18.3.2023 (Photo: Helmut Presser)


Fig. 10: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Landes 18.3.2023 (Photo: Helmut Presser)


Fig. 11: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Toreilles 10.3.2001


Fig. 12: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Toreilles 10.3.2001


Fig. 13: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Frontignan 19.3.1999


Fig. 14: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Frontignan 19.3.1999


Fig. 15: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Frontignan 8.3.2000


Fig. 16: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Charbieux 9.3.2000


Fig. 17: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Chanas 9.3.2000


Fig. 18: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Cassis 7.3.2000


Fig. 19: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Cassis 7.3.2000


Fig. 20: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Maures, Pierrefeu 19.3.1999


Fig. 21: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Maures, Pierrefeu 12.4.2004


Fig. 22: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Dept. Var, Carqueiranne 6.3.2000


Fig. 23: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F S.Paul-en-Foret 30.3.2002


Fig. 24: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid F Breil-sur-Roya 12.4.2004


Fig. 25: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid I Imperia 16.4.2001


Fig. 26: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid I Imperia 16.4.2001


Fig. 27: Ophrys exaltata subsp. arachnitiformis / False Spider Orchid I Imperia 16.4.2001

To top

Start page

Contents

Orchids

Orchids acc. to scientific Names

.. Relationship

.. German Names

.. English Names

.. Bloom Colors

.. Regions

.. Photo Date

.. Rosettes

.. Tubers + Roots

.. Seed Stems

Color Variants

Deformations

Orchid Hybrids

Other Plants