O. attaviria
was first described from Rhodes in 1990 by Ruckbrodt and Wenker.
Its name refers to the area in which it was first formally
recognized, Mount Attaviros in the north west of the island.
This is a rare member of the O. attaviria group whose known distribution is based on Rhodes and adjacent areas of Anatolia. Its full range isn't however known with certainty but it's considered possible, perhaps even likely to include some other of the Aegean islands, perhaps as far east as Cyprus. This is not the easiest of Pseudophrys to identify but there are four features which seem generally consistent and can be helpful with identification :- 1. It is large flowered, perhaps one of the largest of the Pseudophrys. 2. It has a narrow, yellow/red lip margin although this is often difficult to discern due to the strongly recurved lip margin. 3. The silver/grey omega at the tip of the speculum is usually well demarcated and bold. 4. The sinuses are broad and the lateral lobes relatively short, although this is again not always obvious in mature plants due to the recurvation of the median lobe.
A further significant feature, characteristic of O. attaviria is its dark, often blackish lip, with thick purplish hair that covers all but the speculum, where it becomes lighter and less dense. This pilosity often gives the lip a faint purple sheen, a feature which can be detected in some of the photos.
On Rhodes this species is extremely local, normally being found on alkaline soils in both full sun or open pinewoods and often at altitude. O. attaviria is a late flowerer that can appear up to a month later than the similar but smaller O. eptapigiensis. The illustrations are all from Rhodes and date from the the third week of April, at which time they were just appearing.
This is a rare member of the O. attaviria group whose known distribution is based on Rhodes and adjacent areas of Anatolia. Its full range isn't however known with certainty but it's considered possible, perhaps even likely to include some other of the Aegean islands, perhaps as far east as Cyprus. This is not the easiest of Pseudophrys to identify but there are four features which seem generally consistent and can be helpful with identification :- 1. It is large flowered, perhaps one of the largest of the Pseudophrys. 2. It has a narrow, yellow/red lip margin although this is often difficult to discern due to the strongly recurved lip margin. 3. The silver/grey omega at the tip of the speculum is usually well demarcated and bold. 4. The sinuses are broad and the lateral lobes relatively short, although this is again not always obvious in mature plants due to the recurvation of the median lobe.
A further significant feature, characteristic of O. attaviria is its dark, often blackish lip, with thick purplish hair that covers all but the speculum, where it becomes lighter and less dense. This pilosity often gives the lip a faint purple sheen, a feature which can be detected in some of the photos.
On Rhodes this species is extremely local, normally being found on alkaline soils in both full sun or open pinewoods and often at altitude. O. attaviria is a late flowerer that can appear up to a month later than the similar but smaller O. eptapigiensis. The illustrations are all from Rhodes and date from the the third week of April, at which time they were just appearing.
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