Flora of Israel: Ophrys umbilicata

Ophrys umbilicata, Ophrys carmeli, Ophrys dinsmorei, Carmel Bee-Orchid, Mountain Carmel Ophrys,

Hebrew: דבורנית דינסמור, Arabic: اوركيد النحله

Scientific name:   Ophrys umbilicata Desf. 1807
Synonym name:   Ophrys carmeli H. Fleischmann & Bornmüller, Ophrys dinsmorei Schlechter
Common name:   Carmel Bee-Orchid, Mountain Carmel Ophrys
Hebrew name:   דבורנית דינסמור
Arabic name:   اوركيد النحله
Plant Family:   Orchidaceae, סחלביים


Life form:   Geophyte
Stems:   15-40 cm tall
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette, entire
Flowers:   Greenish yellow; sepals 6-13 mm long, lanceolate, greenish or pale pink; petals 3-5 mm long, triangular, pale green, hairy; labellum 6-15 m long, 3-lobed; lateral lobe with horn-like projections, velvety, dark red-purple; middle lobe convex, oblong, with fan-shaped tip; speculum pale blue, reddish-brown or brownish-violet with yellowish borders, irregular, almost encircling, 3-4 velvety spots
Fruits / pods:   Capsules, split open by longitudinal slits; seeds numerous, minute; endosperm absent
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Ophrys, oQ^us, “the eye-brow”, referring to the furry edges of the lips of several species. The latin name for this group of terrestrial orchids.
umbilicata, “shaped like a navel”; meaning with a navel.
The Hebrew name דבורנית, dvoranit, from דבורה, dvora, a bee; the flowers bear a striking resemblance to a female bee. When male bees are tricked into mating with them, they get covered in pollen and spread it from flower to flower.

  • The standard author abbreviation Desf. is used to indicate René Louiche Desfontaines (1750 – 1833), a French botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Bornm. is used to indicate Joseph Friedrich Nicolaus Bornmüller (1862 – 1948), a German botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Schlechter is used to indicate Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (1872 – 1925), a German taxonomist, botanist, and author of several works on orchids.




Location: Road 395, Martyrs Forest