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Horseshoe bee-orchid

Ophrys ferrum-equinum

Also called Horseshoe Orchid

Horseshoe bee-orchid
Photo: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0

A wild terrestrial orchid from the Mediterranean and Aegean region, grown in gardens mainly by enthusiasts of hardy native orchids. It is a tuberous geophyte that needs a dormant period and free-draining, lime-rich soil.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water sparingly during the growing season and keep almost dry while dormant.
Soil
Free-draining, alkaline or lime-rich soil, or gritty mineral mix.
Temperature
Hardy to around -10 °C when dormant; grows best in mild Mediterranean-type conditions.
How easy
Hard
Native range
Albania to W. & S. Türkiye
Climate
subtropical

About

Ophrys ferrum-equinum, the horseshoe bee-orchid, is a terrestrial species of orchid native to Albania, Greece, and Turkey, including Crete and other islands of the Aegean. It owes its species name to the characteristic shape of a silver horse-shoe on the brown petal.

Other Ophrys plants

Bee orchid · Argolian bee-orchid · Atlantic Ophrys · Ophrys battandieri · Bertoloni's bee orchid · Bumblebee orchid · Bornmueller's Orchid · Ophrys cilicica · Cretan Bee Orchid · Ophrys ×dessartiana · Ophrys × flavicans · Dark bee orchid

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ophrys ferrum-equinum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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