Ophrys × arachnitiformis, the false spider orchid, is an orchid native to Europe.Grenier, Jean Charles Marie & Philippe, Xavier. 1860. Mémoires, Société d'Émulation du Doubs III, 4: 391 It is apparently a hybrid resulting from a cross between O. fuciflora × O. sphegodes, but has become established in the wild in Britain, France (including Corsica), Germany, parts of Italy (Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Apulia, Sicily, Sardinia), Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ophrys × arachnitiformisAltervista Flora Italiana, Ofride a forma di ragno, False Spider Orchid, Ophrys arachnitiformis at altervista.org
Ophrys like other orchids are dependent on symbiotic fungi at some point during their life cycle, but especially for germination, which may take months or even years underground. Orchid roots contain Orchid mycorrhiza, coils of fungal hyphae inside orchid root cells.
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