O. carmeli was
first described by Fleischmann and Bornmuller in 1923 and is named
after the Carmel mountains of Israel. Since then the species has
undergone many taxonomic reviews but now seems to have settled into
existence as a full species.
It is an immediately recognizable member of the O. umbilicata group with its core distribution in the Near East but with a tiny foothold in Europe as a rarity in Cyprus where it may easily be confused with O. astarte.
The natural variation within both species bring them morphologically very close and its therefore unsurprising they share the same pollinator. Perhaps the single and apparently unique feature that may separate them is the dorsal sepal, which in O. carmeli can sometimes be steeply erect, a characteristic never noted in O. astarte. It should be stressed however that the dorsal sepal is more normally inclined strongly forward as with all other member species of the group.
The pictures are from southern Cyprus and date from the first week of April.
It is an immediately recognizable member of the O. umbilicata group with its core distribution in the Near East but with a tiny foothold in Europe as a rarity in Cyprus where it may easily be confused with O. astarte.
The natural variation within both species bring them morphologically very close and its therefore unsurprising they share the same pollinator. Perhaps the single and apparently unique feature that may separate them is the dorsal sepal, which in O. carmeli can sometimes be steeply erect, a characteristic never noted in O. astarte. It should be stressed however that the dorsal sepal is more normally inclined strongly forward as with all other member species of the group.
The pictures are from southern Cyprus and date from the first week of April.
