This is a fairly rare member of the 17 strong "bornmuelleri" group whose name translates into
"variable" or "different" lip. It lives up to its name admirably and is a tricky ophrys to identify
with certainty in area's where similar species occur.
The illustrations show a plant with a very distinctive lip and one which certainly varies from
type, particularly in the broad yellow margin and unreflexed tri-lobed body. More typically,
examples of this species from the near east have virtually single lobed lips, strongly reflexed backwards and presenting a face on appearance very similar to "calypsus".
It seems however that as the plant reaches the Aegean islands, the lip tends to stay flared and
give an impression more akin to members of the "fuciflora" group. When first described in 1980
it was thought to be an endemic Turkish orchid, but is now known to occur on Rhodes, Chios, Samos
and very rarely, Lesbos, which is where the pictures here were recorded. As can be seen, the only
plant found was on a day of unremitting rain and cloud and as a consequence picture quality has
suffered. The soaked state of the flowers obscure one of the important features of "heterochila"
and indeed "bornmuelleri" species in general and that is the dense and long hairy margin which
surrounds the lip from the shoulders down. Nonetheless this is a record of a Lesbian rarity.
In general terms, the early flowering of this species (from March) tends to avoid confusion with most similar species. This example was photographed on the 7th of April 2009 and past its best.
.