Cretan ragwort
| Cretan ragwort | ||||||||||||
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Cretan Ragwort ( Ophrys cretica ) |
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| Ophrys cretica | ||||||||||||
| ( Soó ) E. Nelson |
The Kretische Ragwurz ( Ophrys cretica ) belongs to the genus of Ragwurzen ( Ophrys ) in the family of orchid (Orchidaceae). The German common name can lead to confusion with the small Cretan Ragwurz ( Ophrys cretensis ).
features
The Cretan ragwur is similar in the vegetative area of the Kotschys ragwurz ( Ophrys kotschyi ) and is also called Ophrys kotschyi ssp by some authors . cretica (Soó) H. Sund. (1975) accepted. It is a deciduous, perennial and herbaceous growing tuberous geophyte with tubers as a wintering organ and reaches a maximum size of 35 cm. The inflorescence includes two to eight flowers . The bracts are hardly longer than the ovary . The egg-shaped sepals are green in color and appear tinged with red. The hairy petals appear pinkish-purple, sometimes with a greenish tinge. The blunt three-lobed, black-purple lip is up to 14 mm long. She wears a noticeable mark. This varies both in shape (striped to H-shaped or more branched) and in color (pale purple to white or purple with a white border). The middle lobe has a short appendage. The side lobes in particular are densely short-haired.
Flowering time is from March to April.
Location and distribution
This representative of the Ragwurzen can be found on grasslands and garrigues with base-rich , dry to fresh soils below an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level. The area center of this plant species is in the Aegean Sea , but it can also be found in Attica , on Crete and Rhodes.
Systematics
One can distinguish several subspecies:
- Naxos Ragwort ( Ophrys cretica subsp. Beloniae G.Kretzschmar & H.Kretzschmar ): It occurs in eastern Crete, on Naxos, Paros and Siros. It thrives at altitudes between 0 and 500 meters above sea level.
- Cretan Ragwurz ( Ophrys cretica (Vierh.) E. Nelson subsp. Cretica ): It occurs on Crete and in southern Rhodes. It grows at altitudes between 0 and 500 meters above sea level. The pollinator is Melecta tuberculata .
- Karpathos orchid ( Ophrys cretica . Subsp karpathensis E.Nelson ; Syn .: Ophrys ariadnae Paul , Ophrys cretica . Subsp ariadnae (Paul) H.Kretzschmar ): It comes from Crete, Karpathos, Rhodes, Samos, Ios, Milos, Naxos , Paros, Samos and Siros. It grows at altitudes between 0 and 1000 meters above sea level. The pollinator is Melecta albifrons subsp. albovaria . It is also viewed by some authors as an independent species: Ophrys ariadnae .
literature
- Karl-Peter Buttler : Orchids, the wild growing species of Europe . Mosaik Verlag 1986, ISBN 3-570-04403-3
- Ralf Jahn, Peter Schönfelder: Excursion flora for Crete . With contributions by Alfred Mayer and Martin Scheuerer. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1995, ISBN 3-8001-3478-0 , p. 437 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Helmut Baumann , Siegfried Künkele and Richard Lorenz: Orchids of Europe with adjacent areas . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 2006, page 150.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Ophrys cretica. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved May 12, 2020.
