O. janrenzii was first described from the Ionian island of Corfu by Hirth and Spaeth in 2002 and is named in honour of Jany Renz, the noted Swiss botanist who closely studied Greek orchids.
It is a reasonably common member of the large O. mammosa group and one which has been (and still is) the subject of disagreement and confusion regarding its true status and precise range. Its centre of distribution appears to be the Ionian islands where it flowers from March to mid April in a variety of habitats. It is also thought to occur in some disjunct sites across mainland Greece, Peleponnese and Kythira. In all these areas and particularly the Ionian islands, it can be difficult to separate from O. herae, a species that is morphologically very similar, shares the same pollinator and although flowering earlier, is still in bloom concurrently with O. janrenzii for much of March and early April.
It is considered to be of hybridogenous origin between O. herae and O. mammosa and therefore shares characteristics of both taxons in varying degrees. Providing a conclusive distinguishing description is difficult to say the least and on current levels of understanding the only reliable means of differentiation would be for plants that appear before mid March when O. herae has yet to start. Hirth's type description of the species states that the flower is smaller, perianth light green (sometimes with pink flush), dark brown lip and small notched appendix. It should be mentioned however that other authors descriptions do not always accord with Hirth. This is especially the case with lip colour which is more often distinctly reddish.
The photos are from Cephalonia, dating from the first week of April.
