Orchis papilionacea - Pink Butterfly Orchid - (Orchidaceae)

The Pink Butterfly Orchid is a robust and rather large-flowered orchid that grows in large, quite widely scattered groups. As the pictures below show, the colour of this orchid is variable from almost brick red to deep pink.

Pink Butterfly Orchid

There are several subspecies/variants of this orchid and so accurate identification can be difficult. The pictures on this page were taken in Crete where both subspecies alibertis and heroica are known to occur in the same habitats of dry meadows and open woodland. They flower at different times, however, with heroica appearing much earlier - from the end of February to the beginning of April. ssp. alibertis blooms for a much shorter time, from the middle of April through to the middle of May.

The flowers are most attractive with the sepals and petals being much darker than the lip, which is covered with darker streaks and dots.

Both specimens on this page were photographed in Crete, but we have also seen this orchid in the Gargano Peninsula region of Italy.