''Ophrys kotschyi'', the Cyprus bee orchid, is a terrestrial species of orchid native to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. ''Ophrys kotschyi'' occurs in grasslands and in open pine woodlands. It is listed as "near-threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized (as of May 2014):Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Ophrys kotschyi''
/ref> Some molecular studies have suggested that the Greek populations might be only superficially similar, that they evolved independently from the Cypriot populations, thus perhaps meriting recognition as a distinct species.Gábor Sramkó, Gergely Gulyás & Attila Molnár V. 2011. Convergent evolution in ''Ophrys kotschyi'' (Orchidaceae) revisited: a study using nrITS and cpIGS sequences. Ann. Bot. Fennici 48: 97–106, Helsinki, ISSN 1797-2442
/ref> *''Ophrys kotschyi'' subsp. ''ariadnae'' (Paulus) Faurh. -

*''Ophrys kotschyi'' subsp. ''cretica'' (Soó) H.Sund. -

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and other Greek islands *''Ophrys kotschyi'' subsp. ''kotschyi'' –

References

External links

Plant Net Cyprus, Establishment of a Plant Micro-Reserve Network in Cyprus for the Conservation of Priority Species and Habitats, ''Ophrys kotschyi''
* ttps://naturfotografen-forum.de/o677796-Kotschys%20Ragwurz%20%28Ophrys%20kotschyi%29 Forum fur Naturfotografen, Kotschys Ragwurz (''Ophrys kotschyi'') {{Taxonbar, from=Q1785436 kotschyi Orchids of Europe Flora of Cyprus Flora of Crete Flora of Greece Plants described in 1926