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Focus on the Bee Orchid (Ophrys Apifera Huds.)

It belongs to the same family as Fly orchids, and is recognisable as the superior petal of its corolla is very rounded, with its appendix bent backwards. Its sepals are white or pink, and the petals are very short.

The plant self-fertilises on a very frequent basis, and this seems to lead to many peculiar forms.

It grows in the sun, in semi-shaded areas, usually on calcareous soil, on lawns, in scrubland, undergrowth, sparse woods, mown meadows, rocky areas, embankments, dunes, and on the edges of roads.

Bee Orchids are a prtotected species throughout the regions of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Franche-Comté, Limousin, Meurthe-et-Moselle, however they are very common in the Paris region.