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  • slide Scopri il Gargano
    dalle coste alle alture
  • slide Scopri il Gargano
    in bici
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    in moto
  • slide Scopri il Gargano
    a piedi
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Discover the
Orchids of
the Gargano

The Gargano District, Mountainous Promontory of the Northern Apulia, surprises itself for the historical and cultural interests, but above all for those naturalistic.

The whole territory is characterised of a strong floristic variability, to be considerate one of the loveliest landscapes of Italy.

The particular geographic position, the morphology of the territory, the infined variety of the environment have favourite the development of a flora ever become more different: typical Mediterranean plants, alpine plants, over 2500 sorts of botanic, that represents about 35% of the entire national flora, a true botanic laboratory at open sky.

It‘s here the real paradise of the spontaneous orchids: about 70% of the species present in Europe.

Some are commune other are only present here and in just a few sites, practically endemics, like the
Ophrys holoserica subsp.
 
Apulica, O.exaltata subsp archipelagi, O.bertolonii subsp bertoloniiformis, O. argolica subsp. Biscutella, O. scolapax subsp. Cornuta, O. promontorii e O, spipontensis, l’Orchis quadripunctata and the Serapias orientalis subsp. Apulica. Botanicals and impassioned will visit in spring time the Gargano, when the orchids are flouring in major number.
 
There is another concentration of orchids in Mattinata, 60 species. But the whole Gargano is rich of these marvellous flowers of the shape and colours always more peculiars.
 
In fact, the flowers of some species of orchids are similar as some insects, the hornet, the bee, the spider, the bumble bee and many others. The shape of the insect that assumes the flower is for a well precise purpose, that of the preservation of the single species.