Ophrys apifera

Ophrys apifera is called 'the bee orchid'. Anyone here grow these? We had a speaker today at our Orchid Society meeting talking about orchid biology (sex) and I saw this orchid for the first time. It was so beautiful. I was just wondering how hard they are to grow.

Cheers,
BD

__________________
RVO's OrchidTalk Forums - "Bringing People Together" Help support our Community: Donate or Become an OrchidTalk Subscriber today!
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

In a lab in my botany class, the teaching assitant mentioned an orchid that resembled the bee and this orchid gets pollenated by the copulation of the male bee with the flower. I'm sure she was talking about an orchid like Ophrys apifera. They look exactly like a bee and they are very pretty, but I haven't grown it yet.

__________________
Fren
Orchidacea are the largest and most diverse of the Angiospermae, and includes 800 genera and 30 000 species

I seem to remember something about the Ophrys genus being terrestrial, and indigenous to england. Im pretty sure the whole genus is bee mimicing, actually. my favorite is O. speculum. i love the fringing of the labellum.

Theres a lot of info on the genus on wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophrys

Check out the pollination...


*edit
I think the requisite symbiotic fungal relationship in most species is hard to reproduce in cultivation.

__________________
-Colin

These are indeed terrestrials and the various species are found all over Europe from up north in the Russia, and all the way down to the Mediterranean.

I'm not too sure about availability of these plants in the USA, but they are available in Europe... it looks like some species are being flasked commercially...

I suppose you have a couple of issues to deal with, ie local availability, and if none, whether CITES and the costs of importing the goods are within reason...

good luck with the search!

I am also very interested in this genus. If anybody has any info regarding availability in the USA I would be most grateful!!! They are amazing examples of evolution!!!

The last ones I saw for sale in the UK were at RHS orchid show in London this Spring. Quite expensive though at £35 , I think that's about $65. Will PM the name of the vendor if it helps any. I can see them growing only 20 minutes drive away in Crosby Marine Park and enjoy them there.

Attached Images

  

__________________
Nothing is so clean as a fish.

Thanks. I would be willing to pay for them if they are even exportable to the US.

the ophrys grow wild here in israel-even in my garden
so wired to here u saw 1 at bloom now
here they grow and bloom only at the cold wet sesson wich is a few month from now!
now-ther is no sign for orchids-its dry and extreamly hot-so they rest
after a few strong rain they start to grow again and bloom
this terrestrials grow on lime ston clifs facing the sun in open grass area at low altitude

if u want to move it to a pot u must take the same ground from he mountain because it needs the fungy around the roots to grow
they do looks like bee`s
this r mine!

Attached Images

  

__________________

hi from israel

Same here...I have gained an interest in terrestrials and have been trying a few...this genus has been on my wish list...

__________________
I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Hi Guys

I also have some. At the moment they are in pots outside all dried up, waiting for the rainy season to start. They are a bit tricky to grow when they are in pots since the roots need fungus around them in order to thrive. When it is rainy season again, I will add some goat manure to get them going again I heard that people also use cow manure. As for whether they are hard to grow, not really, if you have managed to get the fungal cycle started, they can whithstand full sun and can take cold tempratures.

Here is a link of a post I had on one of my Ophrys and Orchis palnts:

http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...hys-bloom.html