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Ophrys apifera - Bee orchid
The Bee Orchid is one of the species that mysteriously appears in a location one year and then disappears for a number of years, sometimes not reappearing at all. The flower really does live up to its name, as the lip closely resembles a bumblebee. It has three bright pink sepals and usually produces three to five flowers but exceptionally ten or more. The specimen above was photographed in Portugal in the Algarve in May Occasionally Bee Orchids occur with white sepals instead of the usual pink ones. These and other aberrant forms are ascribed to the plant being largely autogamous (self pollinating). The pale specimen shown below was photographed in the Lot Valley, in France, at the beginning of June.
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