Monkey orchid - Orchis simia Lam.- Cyprus

 See also - LIST OF CYPRUS ORCHIDS - ΛΙΣΤΑ ΟΡΧΙΔΕΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ

Orchis simia, commonly known as the monkey orchid, is a greyish pink to reddish species of the genus Orchis. It gets its common name from its lobed lip which mimics the general shape of a monkey's body.

The range of the species is central and southern Europe, including southern England, the Mediterranean, Russia, Asia Minor, Caucasus, northern Iraq, Iran to Turkmenistan and northern Africa where it occurs in grassland, garrigue, scrub and open woodland, chiefly on limestone soils. It is absent from the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia. On Cyprus the species can be categorized as threatened, and it became a protected species in the UK in 1975 under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act.. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Photos (Gerasa) Γεράσα 7/4/2019 by George Konstantinou

Altitudinal range 300–600 mB

Flowering Period Mar–Apr