Common throughout the Mediterranean region. A variable species with several named subspecies or varieties.
Common in garigue, scrub, poor grassland.
Upper Photograph: subsp. lutea – Gargano Peninsula, eastern Italy 2002.
© Paul Hackney.
Lower Photograph: subsp. lutea – mountains of Alicante Province, Spain, 2006
© Paul Hackney.
Lower photograph: subsp. galilaea (murbeckii) – distinguished by the "fishtails" at the base of the lip – N Cyprus 2003
© Alan Hill
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