Wildlife

James Lowen

Ophrys anatolica elegans

A trio of Orchis

This genus is always a treat. Two species were new for me - so even better, especially as both were relative regional specialities. And the third, although one I have seen plenty previously, is a priapic sight for sore eyes.

BLOG

13 April 2025 Cyprus orchids

When Mike Buckland and I visited Cyprus in April 2024, an early season meant that almost all species of orchids had gone over. That didn't worry Mike overly - he's happy seeing an Ophrys if it's part of a wider package, but wouldn't go out of his way to see Kew's latest determination of a variant on bee orchid. I, on the other hand, have orchidelirium - and would have written a book about it had Jon Dunn not gone there first with his very fine Orchid Summer. (If you haven't read this, do!) Last April, we did, however, manage Holy Orchid - so I left relatively pleased. On the March 2025 Wildlife Travel tour - about which I have blogged already: for moths, click here; for other beasts, click here - orchids were fortunately a mainstay of our pan-species attention. And with botanist Sarah Lambert at the helm, we were sure to swoon aplenty.

Ophrys

I will be frank. Almost whenever I travel in Europe, Ophrys ('bee orchids') do my head in. (With the exception of Mirror Orchid in Andalucía, a few springs ago: that was mint.) The problem is not just that they look the same. Or that they have variants (and even hybridise). It's not even that the experts can't agree where species limits lie. The problem for me is that the same expert - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - can't even agree with itself, changing its taxonomy from book to online. I don't berate taxonomists for this: it's part and parcel of our evolving understanding of Nature's myriad ways. But as a bear of little brain, it makes things particularly hard to retain. In such circumstances, I try not to worry about names or identities or lists - and just enjoy these lovely plants for their beauty. So if the names are wrong on the slideshow below, I suggest you simply treat the pix as eye candy.

Not a bad haul. So let's have a look at some of them. Health warning: I might have been a muppet occasionally, and written down the wrong species in the filename. If so, I apologise - and suggest that you take a squiz at Sarah's photos on our tour Flickr site: her images will definitely be correctly identified.

Ophrys omegaifera ssp. israelitica - my favourite, and there were stacks at Smygies (more than Sarah had ever seen)

Roman Orchid

A lovely plant, this. Also new for me.

Ophrys bornmuelleri - just can't recall which ssp...

Dense-flowered Orchid

Having never visited Ireland to see these in the British Isles, I was chuffed that they were nicely in flower here.

Early Spider Orchid (but not as you know it): Ophrys sphegodes taurica

Click here for the trip report.

Tongue orchids Serapiasspp.

And this genus is where my brain explodes. We saw four species (bergonii, orientalis, vomeracea and politisii), and I reckoned - at the time - that I could see the differences that Sarah was diligently pointing out. Structure, angle of the tongue, degree of hairiness of the tongue etc. But now I am back home, I find the photos more confusing than I did the plants in life. So here are just a couple of intentionally unlabelled images. Simply enjoy their otherworldliness. And perhaps stick out your tongue at our need to name them...

Eastern Woodcock Orchid Ophrys umbiicata - three subspecies seen (two shown below plus flavomarginata)

Ophrys lutea galilea

Ophrys fusca cinereophila

Here's a list of species/forms seen, with date of first observation (only).