O. orphanidea was first described in 2007 by Messrs Saliaris and Delforge from the Aegean island of Chios and is a member of the steadily burgeoning and increasingly confusing O. oestrifera group of Ophrys. The taxon was named in honour of Theodore Orphanides, a 19th century Greek scientist.
As with the Chios endemic O. masticorum it had taken a long time, on such a well botanized island to conclude that these were new Ophrys, having previously been regarded wrongly as O. bremifera and subsequently O. ceto. Again as with O. masticorum, it is relatively common, particularly in the south of the island but its original status as a fellow Chios endemic, is now questioned having also been reported from Lesbos.
The plant itself is slender and often carries a seemingly disproportionate number of small flowers that attach to a long ovary, held away from the stem (the illustrations depict this feature quite well). The flower is usually small and slim with a wide stigmatic cavity, broad appendage and protuberences that, although somewhat variable, are generally short. The perianth is invariably pink with small triangular petals and swept back sepals. O. masticorum is the species that is most likely to be confused with O. orphanidea and for good reason as it's very similar. The lateral sepals on the former tend to be larger and longer with a dorsal sepal more strongly inclined forward. The specular pattern of O. orphanidea is usually more extensive and complex.
The pictures are from Chios and date from the second week of April.
