Orchids Spring 2009

[Anthony Darby]

I agree with you Chris. I have both in the greenhouse, and Alessandro's plant looks just like my Orchis purpurea.

[Hristo]

Hi again Alessandro, I have attached a pic of O.conica, not an exact match, your plant looks to me like it is in the group formed by O.tridentata, O.lactea and O.conica, they are very variable!

True Anthony, when you compare your plant to Alessandro's plant there is little doubt it is O.purpurea.

[Alessandro.marinello]

Hristo
the leaves are not equal, try to put a photo of the leaves soon

[Hans A.]

I also vote for Orchis tridentata.

[Oron Peri]

Oron,
Great to see more pictures of orchids in Israel.
In your travels have you encountered any interspecific hybrids?
In the meadows here it is possible to find hybrids between O.coriophora and O.palustris.

Chris

We often find Hybrids here, less in the Orchis but much more common with Ophrys, in some areas there are entire populations that seems to be hybrids often with more than two species involved.

[Hristo]

Cheers Oron,
I guess we tend to see more orchis hybrids here because there are more orchis species growing in mixed communities, Ophrys in my area is limited to one species, so whilst there is variation, one can be certain about the ID.

[Alessandro.marinello]

Hristo
I have photographed the leaves

[Alessandro.marinello]

Hristo
also this is Orchis purpurea ?

[Hristo]

Hi Alessandro,

From the leaves your orchid looks more like O.tridentata than O.lactea or O.conica ( Pic attached of O.tridentata in the wild ). Hans, you win the vote!

Yes your other pic looks to me like O.purpurea with a super dark hood. The markings on the flowers are very variable in this species, no two plants are the same ( unless they are clones! )

[Alessandro.marinello]

Hiristo
thanks for the identifications

[Oron Peri]

Two of the late flowering species are in bloom now:
Orchis sancta and Orchis coriophora [perfumed orchid]
Both E. mediterranean, Orchis sancta has a wider distribution.

[derekb]

3 from me first Cypripedium emil, Cypripedium gisela and last Masdevallia coccinea Dwarf Pink.

[Hristo]

Oron,
Great to see a pale form of Orchis coriophora, I have walked my way through thousands of stems in the hope of seeing a pale form here but this species is uniformly dark in Bulgaria as per my stock picture.

Derek, the Cypripedium 'Emile' is a super looking plant, bravo!

[Oron Peri]

Hey Chris
...and I was looking for a dark form....

I didnt know it grows so abundantly in Bulgaria, here it is a rare species that grows only in a few locations in the Upper Galilee.
It is very uniform in color as you have mentioned too, only that here it has a pale pink color.

[Hristo]

Oron, human nature eh, we always want what we haven't got!
They are very abundant here, later this month they should be flowering and I will photograph the 'swarms' in the local pastures.
Orchis mascula is hard to find in Bulgaria, I found 2 plants recently on a woodland edge at 700m, in the UK they form large colonies of hundreds of plants, in Bulgaria they are all but solitary!
Which species in Israel are the most prolific?