The Dead of Summer!

One of the many faces of Ophrys fusca

Every autumn we run off to sunny Portugal to see and photograph the mind-boggling variety of fungi that can be found throughout the forests and in the hills above the Algarve. These visits usually take place in November and so there is not much to report on the flower front although, even at that time of year, signs of spring are starting to become apparent.

When visiting Portugal it's useful to bear in mind that plant lifecycles are operating on a very different time schedule from northern European countries: high summer in the Algarve is as dead as the depths of winter in Northern Europe, and when it is over, the land is completely parched and covered with dead, brown vegetation. The first rains in autumn produce almost immediate signs of spring growth - the leaves of Bermuda Buttercup start appearing in October and November followed closely by their flowers in December. Other confusing floristic combinations such as Friar’s Cowl and Autumn Crocuses flowering together lie in wait for the observant; and along the roadsides, vivid green leaves of Common Asphodel vie with the plentiful fungi for our attention. The asphodel flowers will not appear until the New Year – or maybe late December in some exceptionally warm years.

And similarly we have often found fungi that we would see in late summer in the UK growing alongside spring flowers in the Algarve. Delicious summer Chanterelles, which appear in August in southern England, can be found in Portugal in February, when spring is really gathering pace.

The annual race to be the first orchid to bloom in the Algarve is well underway by November and December. Most frequently in recent years the winner has been the Yellow Bee Orchid, Ophrys lutea, closely followed by the Bumblebee Orchid, Ophrys bombyliflora, and the Mirror Orchid, Ophrys speculum. But, always lurking and well hidden in scrub and brush, is Ophrys fusca, whose many faces make it the King of Confusion for those who like absolute certainty in identification. The 'been there, seen that' orchid twitchers amongst us have met their nemesis with this orchid. It's about this time of year that I pick up my well-thumbed copy of Pierre Delforge's magnum opus,'The Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East', determined that once and for all I will go through my hundreds of pictures of Ophrys fusca and identify each one with absolute certainty using the pictures in the book. So what else is a sad orchid fan supposed to do in winter? I shall fail as comprehensively this year as I have in every preceding one, but I will as always be convinced that, as a result of my studies, I shall be absolutely equipped to identify accurately all the examples of Ophrys fusca that I will see next spring - a confidence that will vanish as quickly as the early spring mist that hangs over some of our favourite orchid sites close to the sea in the Algarve!

Another of the many faces of Ophrys fusca

Autumn Lady's-tresses in The Burren

The rocky landscape of The Burren

We have just returned from a visit to Ireland where, for once, the weather was actually better than in the UK during the same period. For those of you who think that there cannot be much to choose between the weather in UK and Ireland at ANY time of the year, the fact is that if it is wet in England it's usually even wetter in Ireland. Our first port of call was The Burren right out in the west in Co Clare. We usually visit in June to get the best of the orchids and I was somewhat doubtful of finding any in bloom so late in the season. In fact, we found four species flowering, two of which were actually in peak condition.

Spiranthes spiralis

We found the first species, Autumn Lady's-tresses - Spiranthes spiralis, in the dune slacks at Fanore which is right out on the coast close to Black Head. This is the last of the species to flower in the UK and can occur from the end of July right through into the beginning of Spetember. They are a dainty delight and so small that they can be extremely difficult to spot. We found several singletons and one or two little groups of up to four plants in each. This orchid is well-known from this location but nowhere there are they as common as they are in other parts of Europe.

The Burren is a rocky landscape that, from a distance looks totally devoid of any kind of vegetation let alone orchids. Only when you get into The Burren itself can you see that it is made up from limestone pavement which is composed of flat areas (clints) with (sometimes as deep as 2 metres) crevices in between (grykes). It is in these crevices, which retain moisture from rainfall, that the plants flourish. Around 25 orchid species occur in this small area (approximately 250 square kilometres) along with many other common and rare wildflowers. In fact there are more wildflowers in this part of Co Clare than there are in any other county in Ireland. Because of this, The Burren is a protected landscape; part of it is a National Park and it is protected by EU conservation directives.

Apart from the amazing number of plants to be found in The Burren, there is another factor that makes its plantlife very special and unusal and that is the occurence of both Mediterranean and Arctic species that occupy the same spaces and flower at the same time. For instance, the Arctic plant Mountain Avens - Dryas octopetala - grows alongside Dense-flowered Orchid (sometimes called The Irish Orchid) - Orchis intacta - a predominantly Mediterranean species.

I digress! The other orchid species that we found during our brief visit were Fragrant Orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea - again in the dune slacks at Fanore and in perfect condition, Broad-leaved Helleborine - Epipactis helleborine - almost over but with one or two reasonable flowers at the top of the flower-spikes, and last but not least, a delightful white Common Spotted-orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii. The latter was flowering alone and therefore unlikely to be the subspecies Dactylorhiza okellyi which is one of the real specialities of The Burren.

Regrettably we were too late to find Dark-red Helleborines - Epipactis atrorubens - although I think I spotted some gone-over specimens high up in the rocky crevices above Ballyvaughan. It means I shall have to go back again to find them in better shape - soon! Next year, I hope.

Lady's-slipper Orchid

Cypripedium calceolus - Lady's-slipper Orchid

Our visit to Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve in Lancashire (12th and 13th June) to see the re-introduction programme of this rare species proved to be too late to see many flowers in bloom due to the sudden hot, dry spell of weather that occurred throughout June. There was one plant of Lady's-slipper with a perfect flower, and we were treated to a viewing of several fabulous plants in pots that had been brought on ready for imminent re-introduction to the nature reserve.

The reserve is situated in the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is well worth a visit whether you are an orchid fanatic or not. There are a number of other rare and beautiful plants growing on the reserve including Angular Solomon's Seal - Polygonatum odoratum, Dark-red Helleborine - Epipactis atrorubens, and Bird's-eye Primrose - Primula farinosa. In addition, Gait Barrows is one of the best sites in the UK to look for butterflies and moths; it is one of the last strongholds of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly - Hamearis lucina. This tiny butterfly which agressively patrols its territory can be seen in good numbers at the right time of a good year.

Epipactis atrorubens - Dark-red Helleborine

June 2010 - Wild Orchids at Last!

Early Marsh-orchid in Wales

The 2010 orchid season is off and running.....slowly. The very cold winter and late spring means that most species are late, and we are calling the Early purples Late purples here in West Wales. We would normally expect to see our first specimens appear in mid-to-late April, but this year we saw the first ones in mid-May.

Our visit to Cae Blaen Dyffryn (a delightful, unimproved meadow near Lampeter) last weekend provided none of the spectacular displays of orchids that we have come to expect from this location - just a few Heath Spotted-orchid, Southern-marsh Orchid and Lesser Butterfly Orchid struggling into flower. In two weeks time visits there will be much more productive. By comparison we are told that the very recent, very hot weather has hastened things 'Up North' and that, as a result, our planned trip for the coming weekend to see the reintroduction programme for the Lady's Slipper Orchid at Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve will display 'The late Lady's Slipper Orchid' as in 'passed away'! We are, however, promised many other delights, and you can read about them here soon.