Last updated 17/04/2010

This rare species was found in the surroundings of Mercatello sul Metauro in 2009 by Domenico Rossi. Although Ophrys speculum is widely distributed in Sicily and Sardinia, it is very rare on the Italian mainland, where it flowers from mid-April to the beginning of May. It was recorded for Pescara in Abruzzo in the 1980s by Fabio Conti, but it has long since disappeared from this site. Domenico Rossi's is the first and only record for the Marche.

Literature:

-CONTI, Fabio & Mario PELLEGRINI (1990), Orchidee Spontanee d'Abruzzo, Regione Abruzzo, Penne (PE).

-DEL PRETE, C. & G. TOSI (1988), Orchidee Spontanee D'Italia, Mursia, Milano.

-LIVERANI, P. (1992) - Orchidee. Specie Spontanee, Edisar, Cagliari.