O. ellinicaea
was first described by Kreutz and Tenschert from Kos, Greece in 2011 and its name refers to the Ellinika region of the island.
It is one of the Eastern Mediterranean's rarer Ophrys, occurring only in small numbers on the Aegean island of Kos and in southwest Turkey. As with many orchid species, its survival on Kos is threatened due to the islands enormous herds of goats, subsistence agriculture and seemingly unrestricted tourist development. O. ellinicaea has been included as a full species in Kreutz's 2024 comprehensive orchid guide but it should be acknowledged that research by Paulus and Hirth in 2017 concluded that O. tili and O. ellinicaea are synonymous. Experiments revealed that the mutual pollinator of the two taxons, Eucera cineraria did not or could not distinguish between O. tili from Tilos and O. ellinicaea from Kos. Notwithstanding such undoubtedly cogent evidence, the authors do however recognize that O. ellinicaea from Kos does possess some morphological differences from the typical O. tili of Samos and Tili.
When examined closely O. ellinicaea, although a relatively modest flower in size gives the impression of a very heavily built Ophrys with long protuberances and an often massive, forward or upward pointing appendage. The protuberances may point inwards or outwards, be thin and feeler-like or muscular but are always long, sometimes improbably so. The lip is usually convex with a yellow margin, the basal field orange and the column long. The inflorescence is lax and the widely spaced flowers appear from mid March to mid April.
The pictures date from the second week of April and are from the Antimachia region of Kos.
It is one of the Eastern Mediterranean's rarer Ophrys, occurring only in small numbers on the Aegean island of Kos and in southwest Turkey. As with many orchid species, its survival on Kos is threatened due to the islands enormous herds of goats, subsistence agriculture and seemingly unrestricted tourist development. O. ellinicaea has been included as a full species in Kreutz's 2024 comprehensive orchid guide but it should be acknowledged that research by Paulus and Hirth in 2017 concluded that O. tili and O. ellinicaea are synonymous. Experiments revealed that the mutual pollinator of the two taxons, Eucera cineraria did not or could not distinguish between O. tili from Tilos and O. ellinicaea from Kos. Notwithstanding such undoubtedly cogent evidence, the authors do however recognize that O. ellinicaea from Kos does possess some morphological differences from the typical O. tili of Samos and Tili.
When examined closely O. ellinicaea, although a relatively modest flower in size gives the impression of a very heavily built Ophrys with long protuberances and an often massive, forward or upward pointing appendage. The protuberances may point inwards or outwards, be thin and feeler-like or muscular but are always long, sometimes improbably so. The lip is usually convex with a yellow margin, the basal field orange and the column long. The inflorescence is lax and the widely spaced flowers appear from mid March to mid April.
The pictures date from the second week of April and are from the Antimachia region of Kos.
.