FLORA - MT. DINARA - ORCHID 2014

Mt. Dinara-orchid
Ophrys dinarica Kranjčev et P. Delforge,
Orchid Family (Orchidaceae)

To the genus Ophrys from the Orchid family (Orchidaceae) belong even up to 250 species of many variants and vast spreading – throughout the whole Mediterranean area to Caucasus. In Croatian flora Ophrys is the most numerous genus of orchids (Orchidaceae) with more than 50 species and subspecies, which are most often found in the Mediterranean biogeographic region. The ophrys’ flowers have developed during evolution extremely complicated structure, tightly associated with insect pollination, imitating perfectly by their look and smell the females of particular species. The perianth is composed of six small leaves (tepale): three outer leaves are usually more simply built and coloured from the three inner leaves. One of the three inner leaves is most often considerably different from the rest and forms the so called labellum– a lip turned downwards, strikingly coloured and accentuated by the shiny ornament (the so called mirror or speculum) and often also by “jungle eyes“. When an insect lands on the lip (labellum) with the intention to mate with the flower which the insect recognised as a “ female“ of its own species, a special coherent mass of pollen, the so called pollinarium sticks to its head or abdomen. In other flower the pollinarium reaches the stigma of the pistil and performs the pollination. The fruit is a capsule with many tiny seeds.

The research conducted in the area around the spring of the river Zrmanja in 1999 discovered an endemic species from the huge generic group of the late spider-orchids (Ophrys fuciflora), named Mt. Dinara-orchid (O. dinarica). By its aspect it is a variable species which can grow more than 50 cm high. The three outer leaves of the perianth are most often of pink or violet colour with the notable greenish vein. Brownish-red lip (labellum) is velvety with intensively coloured mirror. Mt. Dinara-orchid blossoms later than other kinds of ophrys: from the middle of May to the end of June, on dry lawns, in shrubberies and bright groves. It is spread also in great number of populations on the very small area between the spring of the river Zrmanja and the town of Sinj.
The Mt. Dinara-orchid is a species strictly protected by law.

Sanja Kovačić