Monkey orchid

Description:

There are different forms of this Orchid, with varying degrees from very pale pink/white to a darker pink/deep red tinge. Looks “frilly,” but upon closer observation flower resembles a monkey form with arms, legs, tail and face!

Habitat:

According to Goulandris Botanical Museum book, Wildflowers of Greece, this orchid “is fairly widely distributed....southern England and Belgium to Spain, Italy, the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor and the Caucasus, in Greece as elsewhere it is a rare species.”

Notes:

Spotted in forest below Mount Penteli