This species was first described by Danesch and Danesch from Foggia, Italy in 1971 and its name relates
to the similarity with is close cousin O. bertolonii.
O. bertoloniiformis is a member of the 10 strong O. bertolonii group and shares that groups familiar and
distinctive appearance. It's endemic not just to southern Italy, but specifically to the Gargano peninsula
where it can be found growing side by side with O. bertolonii, though it is actually the more numerous of
the two species. There have been various reports of O. bertoloniiformis occuring in area's of southern
Italy outside Gargano, these have however been largely ascribed to the product of hybridization between
the much more widespread O. bertolonii and other green sepalled Ophrys species.
If you refer to the O. bertolonii page within this site you will find a photograph of a plant found in Sicily
which exhibits a strong resemblance to its Gargano relatives, including the shallow notch accomodating the
appendage. In O. bertolonii this notch is generally much deeper and this feature serves as one of the important differentiators between the two species.
This orchid is a variable little plant in its own right but can appear more so due to the "Gargano affect" which seems to predispose most Ophrys species into a gene sharing propensity unrivalled in other parts
of the Mediterranean. It is suspected that several of the plants illustrated here have been the results of
such exposure.
The photograph's are all from gargano and date from the first week of May.
