Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: fredg on July 04, 2012, 05:50:26 PM
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This roadside Ophrys apifera site had been pointed out to me by Daveyp a few years ago.
The only problen is that they have a nasty habit of cutting the grass at inopportune times so I've never seen the plants bloom before.
I thought this had happened once again this year until I stopped the car today and asked MrsG to have a look.
Well, I've never seen to many Bee Orchids in one place.
In a space 10m x 2m there must be well over a hundred ;D
Not much of a variation in markings, if any, it looks like all could be from the one self-polinating clone.
Sorry if there's too many photos but I can't help it with this subject :P
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I hope I have conveyed a reasonable impression of the site.
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Very nice Fred
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What a beautiful sight to see. I have never encountered a bee orchid in the wild. It must be magical to see so many. Thanks for sharing. If you are willing to share the location, please pm me.
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Fred nice catch up on that site!
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What a beautiful sight to see. I have never encountered a bee orchid in the wild. It must be magical to see so many. Thanks for sharing.
I must echo John....I too was amazed to see this.... I had no idea there were English sites with that sort of population. Fantastic!
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Terrific site. If you are willing to tell me where it is, please send me an email. I am going up "North" this weekend, so could visit on my way. It would be lovely. :)
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Fred, Davey, I have removed the postcodes for the sites you mention. While most forumists are good folks who would never dig plants, there can be any number of folks reading this who might be tempted.
Best if contact is made via pm to John A and Maren :)
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Maggie no probs.
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Thanks Fred and Davey... better safe, eh! ;)
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I sort of take these sites for granted Maggie and 100% shouldn't.Fred if your giving Maren the details tell her about the Dact site further down the road on the wasteland also Portland Park.Infact if you could meet her you could do an orchid tour.:)
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It's not that site Dave
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It's not that site Dave
Righty O Fred i know where you mean now mate
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Maren, don't know how far 'north' you are coming this weekend - Peterborugh is 'south' to us. ;)
If you are in Co Durham on Sunday, our local group is visiting the Epipactis atrorubens main site on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure you'd be welcome as a guest.
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Peter,
what a nice invitation. :-* Normally I would have jumped at the opportunity but I am committed to attending the BOC Judging Symposium at Peterborough on the Sunday (duty before pleasure ;). Maybe next year?
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Fred, superb pictures of a lovely site of a lovely plant; It is the density of the flower spikes that strike me. They seem very close together. I am interested that main companion flower seems to be white clover. At the site I am most familiar with, (below) it is mixed in with Red Clover in great quantity.
Maggie, it grows in surprising numbers surprisingly far north. I have found it in 5 places in County Durham this year, and two of the sites had well over a hundred plants. One of them, the Hetton Lyons site previously mentioned on this forum, has now had its visit from Sunderland City Councils Grass cutters again, so yesterday ther were only 22 plants still flowering that I could find.
Incidently, some of the sites in our our area are published in great detail and are very close to the roads.
Maren, and anyone else attracted by the reference by Peter to the Epipactis atrorubens site visit, (I reckon that usually the number of flower spikes there runs into 4 figures, not just three, though I have never counted them, probably about half the British population,) after going with the Good Professor and the North East group on Sunday, I will be returning with the Cleveland group on Monday, after a civilised lunch in Sedgefield. More details will be available for anyone interested. It is not the only interesting orchid at that site by any means (Fragrant, Pyramidal, Spotted, Twayblade and allegedly Bee ...etc.); hopefully Peter may post some of his pictures if the weather allows. I have a feeling I may get rather wet two days running.
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There's also Early Purple as well, but they'll be well finished by now (and they didn't flower well this year when I was there in early May)
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Fred, Davey, I have removed the postcodes for the sites you mention. While most forumists are good folks who would never dig plants, there can be any number of folks reading this who might be tempted.
Best if contact is made via pm to John A and Maren :)
It is a pity that you'll have to to do this because of the ignorance of many, but unfortunately needed :-*.
Not far from where I live there is a nature conservation site formerly agricultural land, but given back to nature. Many different orchids have come back to grow there by the dozens and hundreds. It has become a well known orchid site, with the consequence that many ignorant people visit the site to dig some orchids for their garden >:( . It is illegal and you can get fined, but nevertheless.... :(
I have attached two photos (not mine) of the specific site. One with Dactylorhiza and one with hundreds of Epipactis palustris.
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WOW John two fantastic pics,love the epipactis not a plant i have seen in the wild.
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Exciting to see so many fine plants, John.
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the epipactis not a plant i have seen in the wild.
Davey,
I know you've been up this way. Go a little further and you'll find them in the dune slacks on Lindisfarne.
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Davey,
I know you've been up this way. Go a little further and you'll find them in the dune slacks on Lindisfarne.
Thank you Peter,isn't there another epipactis found on there as well?
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WOW John two fantastic pics,love the epipactis not a plant i have seen in the wild.
Great isn't it. There is hope if you see this site. Once agricultural lands and after scraping off the fertile cultured soil until the original layer is exposed all kinds of wild plants including these orchids just pop up after being absent for many decades in these numbers.
And the best thing is that it is only a couple of miles from where I live. Just around the corner 8)