Bee Orchid
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Ophrys apifera
Common & widespread around Britain.
The plant blooms from mid-April in continental Europe, but in the United Kingdom it flowers June to July.
A flower spike is produced, composed from one to twelve flowers. Three large, purple sepals surround the base of the flower, which can easily be mistaken for petals.
A third, modified petal, the labellum, sits at the bottom of the column as a landing pad for pollinators. The labellum is trilobed, with two pronounced humps on the hairy lateral lobes and a hairy median lobe having a pattern that mimics the abdomen of a bee.
The pattern of labellum colouration is quite variable.