John and Gerry's    Orchids of Britain and Europe
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Ophrys demangei


O.
demangei was first described as a full species by Delforge from the department of Drome in 2015 and is named after the contemporary French botanist Michel Demange. It's a member of the 22 strong O. tetraloniae group which take their name from the tetralonia genus of bees representing the most significant pollinators of this family of Ophrys.
 
This species has been known for many years, notably from the Vercors where it was seen as a link between the O. scolopax and O. fuciflora groups, perhaps even a stabilized hybrid. It was referred to as O. pseudoscolopax by some authorities but this was to confuse it with O. linearis and others of the southern French O. tetraloniae group. In any event it had gone without any serious study until 2015 when Scappaticci recognized it as O. fuciflora ssp demangei and Delforge subsequently described it as a full species.

This is a variable orchid that as can be seen from the photographs can appear in several different forms, often mimicking other fuciflorid species. A key identifying characteristic however is its size, which at an average length of 10mms, is little bigger than the flower of O. passionis and certainly smaller than other fuciflorid species it can be found growing alongside. The lip is usually globular, sometimes scolopaxoid and exhibits a complete, though not always particularly dense band of marginal hair. The basal field and stigmatic cavity are wide and give the orchid a hunched shoulders look. The inflorescence is widely spaced but stems may carry as many as ten individual flowers.

The pictures are all from the Vercors, dating from the second and third week of May.