Ghostly Vision
Well-known member
1. Richard's site for Fly orchids, inc orangey-edge lip ones: Brilliant, must be over 200 flowering Fly orchids there. No plants I would place firmly in flavomarginata though. A few White helleborines, some big ones, and Common spotted orchids coming into flower.
2. Nearby, at a private woodland site for flavomarginata Fly orchid, not a single plant in flower. There have been over 200 in this small patch of woodland as recently as 2001, and also the subbombifera type too in the past. No white hellebroines either.
3. NW of Oxford, at a site where there were well over 120 Bee Orchids two years ago - including the vars trollii, belgarum and flavescens. Pouring with rain and had to rescue a young Magpie from a dog's mouth on behalf of a local lady! Not a single Bee orchid found. The reason became quickly apparent - every single plant had been dug up. This is the curse of a highly attractive, cosmopolitan plant in a public area that has been locally publicised in order to raise public interest. Luckily, the amount of dug up patches was less than the number of plants from 2 years ago. Perhaps many have not flowered and might come up in a better year.
Sean
2. Nearby, at a private woodland site for flavomarginata Fly orchid, not a single plant in flower. There have been over 200 in this small patch of woodland as recently as 2001, and also the subbombifera type too in the past. No white hellebroines either.
3. NW of Oxford, at a site where there were well over 120 Bee Orchids two years ago - including the vars trollii, belgarum and flavescens. Pouring with rain and had to rescue a young Magpie from a dog's mouth on behalf of a local lady! Not a single Bee orchid found. The reason became quickly apparent - every single plant had been dug up. This is the curse of a highly attractive, cosmopolitan plant in a public area that has been locally publicised in order to raise public interest. Luckily, the amount of dug up patches was less than the number of plants from 2 years ago. Perhaps many have not flowered and might come up in a better year.
Sean