Ophrys dyris Maire in Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afrique N. 22: 65 (1931).
Basiónimo:
Ophrys omegaifera subsp. dyris (Maire) Del Prete, Webbia 38: 213 (1984).
Sinónimos:
Ophrys fusca subsp. dyris (Maire) Soó in G. Keller & Schltr., Monogr. Iconogr. Orchid. Eur. 2: 312 (1935);
Ophrys atlantica subsp. dyris (Maire) G. Keller in G. Keller, Schltr. & Soó, Monogr. Iconogr. Orchid. Eur. 2: 403 (1940);
Ophrys fusca var. dyris (Maire) O. Bolòs & Vigo, Fl. Països Catalans 4: 659 (2001);
Ophrys dyris was first described by Maire from the Atlas mountains of Morocco in 1931 and its name refers to “Dyris” the name given by Pliny to the mountains of the Moroccan Atlas.
This is an uncommon member of the Ophrys omegaifera group and belongs to a set of three species, resident in the western Mediterranean, primarily the Iberian peninsula, which have become isolated from their largely Aegean based cousins. The other members are Ophrys vasconica and Ophrys algarvensis both of which have evolved into hybridogenous species as a result of the introgression of Ophrys dyris by Ophrys fusca s.l.
Ophrys dyris is a rare species which can be found in Morocco, the Balearics (arguably) and the southern half of the Iberian peninsula, including Portugal. It prefers alkaline soils but will tolerate a wide range of conditions from open garrigue to the semi shade of pine woodland. Flowering can be as early as late January in the warmest parts of its distribution but March would be more typical in northerly areas.
Ophrys dyris is a distinctive species and relatively easy to identify in the field due to the virtual lack of a groove in the throat at the base of the lip. Occasional hybridization between this species and members of the Ophrys fusca group is regularly recorded and particularly in the Balearic islands where Ophrys dyris itself seems to have been virtually subsumed by hybridisation with Ophrys arnoldii. In the Balearics and mainland Spain the resultant offspring always possess a central groove in the lip. Its strange therefore that Ophrys algarvensis which is thought to be the result of the same but a more ancient union of these two taxons, does not have such a groove.
