An orchid walk with Ron and David

[daveyp1970]

Yesterday me and Ron covered a few mile on an Orchid walk and here are some highlights firstly we found amongst a group of bee orchids a few who flowers were very pale and the lips was trying to be waspish like.

Pyramidal orchid at a new site that took a while to find but worth it.








And then totally by accident we found best Epipactis helleborine i have ever seen.

[ronm]

Thanks Davey, for one of the best days plant hunting I've had. Seven species of native orchid in one day (plus a pure white E. helleborine , ) , all new to me. . (Chilli relish sausage sandwich was amazing too!! )

[ronm]

With all this to see the walk could have gone on for days for me, 

[ronm]

We saw A.pyramidalis on at least five separate locations ( could have been more, my mind became a purple blur!! ), but I think this was the only time we saw a 'clump'.

[daveyp1970]

Ron your camera caught that clump better than mine.Nice pic.

[ronm]

As a complete novice, what surprised me was the range of soil types (sandy, loamy, clayey, stoney) and conditions ( wet, dry, open sun, shade, deep shade, ) that each species grew in. The effects of each of the conditions was noticeable on the status of the plant, but they managed to endure in what I'm sure would not be considered ideal conditions. Tough little plants!

[jomowi]

Davey and Ron - Seeing your Epipactis helleborine pics posted on 18 July reminded me that I needed to go and do a recce. at my local bing (industrial spoil heap) where these plants grow in abundance.  I was not expecting them to be in flower yet, and true enough when I got there yesterday, I estimate they need at least another 10 days to 2 weeks.  This timing would fit with my last viewing of them five or six years ago before I came to live nearby.  Plenty of Listera ovata, and Dac. fuchsii too, the latter a bit OTT.  The bing is wooded over, so the plants tend to be taller than the norm due no doubt to being drawn by lower light levels.

[ronm]

Sounds like a great site / sight Maureen. 
Wonderful how the old industrial wastelands are maturing into beauty.

[daveyp1970]

Maureen,i would love to see pics.
As Ron allready i whent to further investigate the area of the monster epipactis to see if this was a lone plant,it wasn't there was at least sixteen plants and i am a bit unsure keying it as straight E.hellerborine because the lip id different as you will see in the following pics the first being the monster the second lipped is a normal specimen.




Next a found what seems to be amongst a colony of bee orchids some i think maybe be var friburgensis

Next this weird one caught my eye.

[Neil]

Davey the last picture of the bee were all the flowers on the stem like that of just that one?

[daveyp1970]

Davey the last picture of the bee were all the flowers on the stem like that of just that one?

Just the one flower Neil but i have put a marker next to it to see if this plant does it again next year.

[ronm]

Fascinating finds Davey.   
The lip really does look like that of E. leptochila, but the colour isn't right for that species is it?? Are you perhaps thinking hybrid?? Is there any evidence yet of E. leptochila in the area?? or are you going to have to do even more fieldwork ( he says jealously,  ) ??
Of the thousands of Ophrys that surround you I was amazed by the differences . Such wild variation across all the sites. I think I only saw a few plants that correspond to the usual pictures of this species posted here on the forum. Stunning, mad genes  

[jomowi]

Sounds like a great site / sight Maureen. 
Wonderful how the old industrial wastelands are maturing into beauty.

Yes, Ron, this particular bing is so well naturalised that it is not even recorded on OS maps with the usual mass of dots which indicate such sites. From the road you would not recognise it as anything but a wooded hillside.  I will try and get pics  of E. helleborine when they are in flower.  E. helleborine v. youngiana also grows here.  It was originally classified as a sp. but later demoted to a var. When I was there some years back there was a study going on with marker pegs by individual plants, and counts of all Epipactis on the site were carried out annually.  From what I saw last week, this is no longer happening as I only saw one very old, faded marker.  I think that when E. youngiana was demoted to a var. it no longer attracted research money.  My memory of this is rather hazy, so if anyone knows differently, I stand to be corrected.  All my notes and books are packed away and currently inacessible due to house alterations. 

[jomowi]

Maureen,i would love to see pics.
As Ron allready i whent to further investigate the area of the monster epipactis to see if this was a lone plant,it wasn't there was at least sixteen plants and i am a bit unsure keying it as straight E.hellerborine because the lip id different as you will see in the following pics the first being the monster the second lipped is a normal specimen.

Next a found what seems to be amongst a colony of bee orchids some i think maybe be var friburgensis

Davey, I am not knowledgeable enough to distinguish between the different sps. of Epipactis, the only comment I would make is that your last 2 pics look like aberrant forms?