Ophrys reinholdii
Ophrys reinholdii H. Fleischm.
Orchidaceae – Orchid family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN C2a(i); D]. CITES(2).
Morphology and biology. Perennial plant with 2 ovoid tubers. Stems 15–40 cm high, with a rosette of 3–6 oblong-lanceolate leaves. Inflorescence lax, with 2–8 flowers. Sepals pink, spread, 12–16 × 4–7 mm. Petals 4–7 mm long, pink, hairy. Labellum trilobed, the middle lobe convex, velvety hairy, dark violet brown to almost black, the speculum white, with a variable shape. Fl. V, fr. VI. Insect pollination. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Scrublands, forest edges, extensively used pastures, more often on limestone, in sunny or semi-shaded places. Recently found in Bulgaria. Three subpopulations known. Each of them numbers 20–60 individuals on an area below 0.2 ha. The species is very close to the IUCN criteria for ‘Critically Endangered’ category.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Strandzha Mts (the region of Malko Tarnovo town and near the road to Vitanovo Strict Nature Reserve); up to 400 m alt.
General distribution. E Mediterranean (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, R Macedonia, Turkey, Aegean islands). Locally found.
Threats. Limited distribution and low densities of the populations. There are no data for other negative factors up to now.
Conservation measures taken. The localities are in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Continued research into the distribution of the species; monitoring of the populations; studies on the negative factors in the different localities.
Note. The taxon was first erroneously reported as O. argolica H. Fleischman (Dimitrov et al. 2001). Consequent studies showed the Bulgarian population belongs to O. reinholdii, and not to the Peloponnese endemic O. argolica.
References. Delforge 1995; Dimitrov et al. 2001; Bergman et al. 2004; Tsvetanov et al. 2005.
Author: Antoaneta Petrova
