Even though I have been botanisisng for years, I'm not that good at spotting new plants for the first time and as we trudged back along the newly surfaced road high up in the hills leading to the Cyprus Herbarium, I walked straight passed this orchid. My wife asked what that orchid was and I dismissed it as one we'd seen before. She said it wasn't, and closer inspection proved her right. This was the only example of Orchis anatolica we found in our stay on Cyprus and was just beginning to fade. This is another Eastern Mediterranean orchid species.

Taxonomy: Most authorities agree that the correct name for this taxon is Orchis anatolica Boiss.

Side of road leading to North Cyprus Herbarium, 7th April 2004

Added on January 23rd 2005, updated 17th January 2010, 21st January 2011, updated 1st March 2012