Orchis olbiensis Reuter ex Barla 1859

Photo courtesy of Th. Pain and His Orchids of France and Europe

O Mascula Group

Common Name Olbia Orchis [City in Northern Sardinia]

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

A miniature to small sized, cold growing terrestrial orchid that is found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal, the Majorcas, France, Italy, and Corsica in short, poor grassland, garrigue, scrub and open woodlands at elevations up to 2000 meters with a sometimes flexuous stem carrying 3 to 6, basal, unmarked or with blackish-violet blotches or brownish streaked leaves with 1 to 3, smaller, clasping cauline leaves above that blooms in the spring on an erect, terminal, lax, often ovoid, 1.2 to 3.2" [3 to 8 cm] long, 6 to 15 flowered inflorescence carrying often pleasingly scented flowers.

Synonyms Androrchis olbiensis (Reut. ex Gren.) D.Tyteca & E.Klein 2008; Orchis mascula subsp. olbiensis (Reuter) Ascherson & Graebner 1907; Orchis mascula var. olbiensis (Reut. ex Gren.) Nyman 1890; Orchis olivetorum Dörfler 1882

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 55 No 1 1986; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East Delforge 2005

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