O. atlantica
was first described by Munby from the Atlas mountains of Algeria in 1856 and its
name literally means "from the Atlas". This is the single member species of the O. atlantica group
and it occurs only in Algeria, Morocco and the Andalucia region of Spain,
beings rare in all three countries. Until recently this
orchid was known as O. fusca ssp durieui, a synonym still in common usage.
This species is unusual amongst the Pseudophrys
in being highly
distinctive and virtually impossible to confuse with any other taxon.
The most prominent of its distinguishing characteristics is
the curvature of the lip, a feature that grows
progressively more exaggerated with age. This can be observed from the
illustrations where picture 7 depicts a newly opened flower and 8 an
older plant in advanced anthesis. Interestingly this strong curvature
is a trait shared with O. bertolonii and is almost certainly an adaptation to accommodate the arching abdomen of their mutual pollinator Chalicodama parientina.
A second notable characteristic of O. atlantica
is the length of the petals which are significantly longer than those
of most other Pseudophrys. Although a species tolerating a
wide range of habitats, its preference is for dry conditions in lightly
shaded pine woodland. Altitude does not appear to be of great
importance, growing quite happily in both lowland areas and
elevations up to about 1500 metres.
The pictures here are all from a mountainous region in the Spanish Province of Malaga and date from the 16th of
April, at which time many of the plants were well past their best. At
lower altitudes O. atlantica would be in full flower by the beginning
of April.
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