May 05, 2014

ORCHIDS IN IBIZA

 
WILD ORCHIDS OF IBIZA
Although the name of these beautiful flowers, reminds faraway tropical places such as Costa Rica or Thailand, Ibiza has more than 20 species of native orchids, which are not easy to find. These first three images in this entry, belong to the species of "ophrys fusca" and they found in Mediterranean areas and reaches places as Turkey, Sicily and southern of France. 
 They are wild and protected orchids, so it is totally forbidden to tear them, cut them or to take them,  anyway it's impossible that these beautiful plants can be planted at home because they need the land where they were born, which is almost always the island´s forests.
The kind of "Orphrys Balearica" (picture above and below) is a species found only (as the name suggests) on the Balearic Islands.
Colors vary but not the size, rarely are just over 20 inches high. Interestingly one of the petals resemble the wings of bees and find it much easier to be pollinated. They all bloom the first months of the year, one more reason for visiting Ibiza in winter. In addition to these green and white colors, exist others in yellow, pink, violet and different colors, but they are not easy to find.