A confusion of Marsh Orchids....

[broadbill]

Hi all

Was at Greywell, Hants at the weekend - lots of Marsh Orchids, I guess most were Southern, but have just got a couple I'm not sure about. Is this one with longer bracts possibly Early Marsh Orchid or can Southerns have bracts this long?



I wondered if these two might possibly be Narrow Leaved Marsh as the flower spikes were much less densly flowered?



And one last one - is this even a Marsh Orchid, almost wondered if it was nearer Common Spotted?



Also enjoyed this spectacular Bee Orchid specimen at College Lake - around 30cm tall!



Also here were these individuals - are these just variations on the 'normal' race of bee orchid or are they a particular sub-species?



Thanks for your help!

Chris.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by broadbill

Wow! I've never seen a Bee Orchid with that many flowers before!
It's certainly a lovely one.

Can't help with your other questions - but I know someone who can!

Tracey

[Hypatia]

The last two are variety belgarum. Beautiful!

[Dorts]

Hi Broadbill, I know the Greywell site extremely well, some great plants there.
Your Orchids are all Dactyorhiza x grandis = Common Spotted x Southern Marsh Orchid hybrids.
I know they all look slightly different, but that is often the way with hybrids.

As far as I am aware, Early Marsh Orchids have never been found at Greywell. Also Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchids don't grow there either, though they can be found not far away!

Without digging the tall Bee Orchid plant up, it is difficult to say if it has two stems, or is in fact two seperate plants; I suspect the latter.

The Bee Orchids shown in close-up, as Hypatia has said, are var, belgarum, named from the Roman name for Winchester (Venta Belgarum). They were first noted there on the round-about just north of the town on the A31 about 30 years ago.

Originally Posted by sunnydale

Wow! I've never seen a Bee Orchid with that many flowers before! Tracey

(Tracey, Bee Orchids with 10-15 flowers is not uncommon, I have seen plants at one site in
Oxfordshire with over 30 flowers per plant, and on that particular day we estimated there were over 25,000 Bee Orchid plants in flower! We went back the following day and they had all been mown down).

Lovely plants Broadbill and lovely photo's too.
Dorts.

[turntostone]

Chris,
Were was the "belgarum" bee orchid at college lake. I go there most
weeks and havnt seen that variant,.

Gordon

[broadbill]

Hi All

Thanks for the help as always - no wonder I was getting confused!

Those Bee Orchids sound amazing Dorts - its a shame they were mown, its no wonder the wildlife in this country is struggling but its good these beautiful plants remain protected in some locations still.

Gordon - yes the belgarum Bee Orchids were at College Lake - head on down past the octagon hide towards the end of the path past the big earth digging machine to where the path is an old tarmac road and they were around that general area - sorry I cant be more specific but I cant remember exactly which area of grass they were in.

Thanks

Chris.

[turntostone]

Chris,

Saw some "bees" roughly where you mean. I had seen about 20 spikes by then so didnt take a lot of notice. Will take a better look this Sunday.

Thanks
Gordon