This species was first described from the Crimea (Romania) in 1835 and is a member of the eleven strong
O. militaris group. Its name refers to the spotting on the flowers.
O. punctulata is undoubtedly one of Europes most impressive orchids and also one of its rarest with an eastern Mediterranean range from Greece in the west to Iran in the east. It is perhaps most familiar to
western european orchidologists as one of the specialities of the island of Cyprus where it seems destined
to become still rarer due to the consequent habitat loss from unrestricted tourist development.
Its stronghold on the island is in the hills of the Akamas peninsula where with perserverance it is still quite possible to encounter the species without specialist site information. Its main sites are however reasonably well known and frequently visited in early March. They dont however seem to be suffering from this close
attention and as already mentioned appear to be facing a far greater threat from development associated
with Cyprus's tourist industry. The pictures here are from a site that contained some 50 plants but which
was within just two hundred yards of coastal tourist appartment complexes.
The species is reasonably variable and most particularly in the flower colouration which can vary from an almost lime green to a much darker reddish, brown. The variant sepulchris from Anatolia has "arms and legs" that can be almost completely of this latter colouration. Photo 11 depicts a plant that although from Cyprus, seems to be some way down the evolutionary road towards variant status.
O. punctulata is a beautiful and statuesque Orchis that can reach up to nearly 100 cms and putting it very
much in the same league as some of the Himantoglossums .
