We have something special from Nightjar today.
Remember this (https://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/2019/01/16/surrounded-by-rocks-an-exploration-series-chapter-5/) when I said that visiting that limestone hill during Spring would be more interesting because of all the wild orchids? Well, this month I did just that and managed to find 4 species of wild orchids! The Bee and Yellow Bee orchids I found mostly on my way up, while the Pyramidal and Mirror orchids were everywhere at the roadside verges around the hill. I was thrilled to find so many Mirror orchids this year, they are among my favourite wild flowers just because of how glossy and shiny they are. Mirror orchids are pollinated exclusively by a single species of solitary wasp and I love how far their mimicry goes, eyes and everything!
Bee Orchid – Ophrys apifera 1 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Bee Orchid – Ophrys apifera 2 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Mirror Orchid – Ophrys speculum 1 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Mirror Orchid – Ophrys speculum 2 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Pyramidal Orchid – Anacamptis pyramidalis 1 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Pyramidal Orchid – Anacamptis pyramidalis 2 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Yellow Bee-Orchid – Ophrys lutea ©Nightjar, all rights reserved
those look really awesome.
I love orchids, but I’ve never seen them grow wild. The Pyramidal Orchid is my favourite, mostly because I love purple flowers, but the Bee Orchids are fabulous. Their mimicry is so detailed. So is that of the Mirror Orchids.
Thanks, Nightjar, for sharing this. I love to see things that I’ll never get to see in person.
With the Mirror Orchids, it took me a few seconds to realize that there weren’t actually insects standing on them!
Beautiful plants! This reminds me of searching and fotographing orchids and other rare plants with my father when I was younger.
Also here is David Attenborough talking about orchids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h8I3cqpgnA
Amazing plant mimics. If I was an insect, I’d be tricked.
And they are beautiful! I know there’s some wild orchids growing here, but they’re rare, and I haven’t managed to find any yet…
Thanks for sharing that video, avalus! Sadly I have yet to catch that kind of action…
Great pictures.
Reminds me a little of some of our local Thelymitra (Sun orchid) species. We’ve got a lot of local native orchids but they are mostly tiny and easy to miss unless you know exactly what to look for and some are rare and endangered. Amazing and fascinating little plants :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-03/rare-native-orchids-nursed-back-to-health-near-adelaide/6906064