Saturday morning was a wake up call, overcast, strong winds and sporadic rain. A long way from the blue skies and warm temperatures we had left behind in Sicily the day before. I had arranged to meet Ian at the top of Portsdown Hill, today was to be about Orchids and hopefully butterflies but the latter was not going to be easy. As I sat in the car, parked in the lay by the rain became heavy, the wind rocking the car and the rain thumping on the windscreen and roof. When Ian arrived he joined me in the car and we chatted until the rain eased and there was signs of blue sky away to the west.
Leaving the car we were joined by a Kestrel using the up draught from the hill to hover over the grass area.
We walked down the hill and through the grassy paths, as I said we were here to look for orchids, and some special ones at that. Along side the paths there were Pyramidal Orchids in bloom. The pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a
bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem.
Eventually the path took us to a grassy area that was below the chalk cliffs of Portsdown Hill and in amongst the tall grass was the orchid we were looking, the Lizard Orchid. I have seen these before, but in the Dordogne area of France, this was the first time I had seen one in this country.
The Lizard Orchid grows on calcareous soils and likes sunny
positions on the edges of open woodland and on roadside verges. This orchid
also grows in dry meadows, rocky areas, and open woods.
The long, tail-like lip is usually spiralled and dotted with
pink or purple in the centre. Lizard Orchid’s flowers have a rather foul smell,
said to be similar to the smell of goats.
Lizard Orchid is usually rare in the UK but in the right
location it can be found in great numbers. It grows up to a metre in height but
can nonetheless be difficult to spot when growing in long grass on roadside
verges.
The scientific name
(Himantoglossum) derives from the Greek for ‘strap-tongue’ Hircinum is Latin
for ‘goat-like’, and refers to the strong, foul smell of the flowers. In most European languages it is known as
‘(Billy or male) goat orchid’.
The Lizard Orchid
is pollinated by insects particularly bees.
In the same area as the Lizard Orchids were several Bee Orchids. These were looking particularly superb with most of the flower heads in perfect condition.
The Bee Orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip
looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up
pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t live here in the
UK, so the UK Bee Orchids have to rely on self-pollination.
A small orchid, the bee orchid has a rosette of leaves at
ground level and two leaves that grow up the stem as a sheath. The stem
displays a number of relatively large flowers with pink sepals that look like
wings, and furry, brown lips that have yellow markings on, just like a bee.
A drop of water left over from the rain was clinging to the velvet like abdomen of the "bee".
As well as these two special orchids there were others, the Common Spotted Orchid.
Despite the overcast conditions a Marbled White flew past us, but didn't stop, a first for the year. But then Ian found one settled on the top of a Pyramidal Orchid.
A newly emerged male, sitting out the cool conditions.
We climbed up the side of the cliff, it looks quite dramatic close up.
At the top of the cliff we walked through loads of daisies and Common Spotted Orchids.
Despite the overcast conditions, the sea around Portchester Fort looked distinctly Mediterranean.
We disturbed a group of Ravens that were feeding on a dead rabbit, they took off and flew around us using the wind to not go away too far.
From Portsdown Hill our next destination was to be Beacon Hill. We had been here for the first time earlier in the spring, and I an had visited in the week and found Man Orchids. He was happy to return so I could see them.
We walked around the hill, taking in the wonderful view on what was now a lovely morning.
After reaching the area we eventually found a single Man Orchid, a spike about 20 centimetres tall alongside a small Blackthorn bush.
The Man Orchid takes its name from the appearance of its
hooded flowers, with dangling appendages that look like a head and limbs. It
grows from tubers, does not always flower annually and is now a rare sight in
the UK.
This is an orchid of short alkaline grasslands and is most
often found growing full sun or mid-shade, but the Man Orchid is also found
occasionally along the edges of open woodland and in scrubby areas.
As I have written the name Man Orchid refers to the human
shaped lip of the flower which, together with the sepals and petals which form
a hood above the lip, gives the flower a strong resemblance to a small human
figure. The plants grow to around 40cm tall and there are 5-10 basal leaves
which are unmarked but clearly veined. The colour of the flowers varies from
greenish-bronze to pale yellow and they are usually marked with bronze.
I am a sucker for a tree on the horizon.
The side of the slope was covered in Chalk Fragrant Orchids.
This we considered is a Heath Fragrant Orchid.
A superb Common Spotted Orchid.
A close up of the petals.
Walking back to the cars, the slopes were covered with daisies and buttercups. Back in April it was Cowslips.
Our final stop of the day was Chappetts Copse just outside West Meon. This is a reserve managed by the Hants and IOW Wildlife Trust and consists of ancient woodland.
We were here for more orchids, this time Helleborines. Unfortunately the two orchids we hoped for, Frog and Bird's Nest were now past there best, but this didn't stop us looking for them.
In the dark conditions under the Beech canopy Ian pointed out a White Helleborine.
White Helleborine is a slow-growing orchid that grows under
Beech trees. It has angular ribbed stems and ribbed leaves. Its small flowers
are creamy-white and elongated with a curved tip, borne in spikes. On opening,
the flowers show a yellow lip, which gives rise to the alternative common name
of 'poached egg plant'. However, the flowers do not always fully open, as the
plant relies mainly on self-pollination.
There are two other Helleborines here, the most numerous being the Sword-leaved Helleborine. There are getting to the end of their flowering period, but there were still a few showing flowers.
The Sword-leaved Helleborine grows to about 40 cm in height
and is distinguished from the Broad-leaved Helleborine by the shape of its
leaves, which are long and narrow. Both the Latin namelongifolia which
means long-leaved and the English common name 'sword-leaved' refer to the
distinctive shape of the leaves.
Although generally associated (in the UK, that is) with the
chalk-rich habitats of southern England, the Sword-leaved Helleborine also
occurs in western Scotland, in a few sites in Ireland and on the western
fringes of Mid and North Wales. This species is in steep decline both in the UK
and throughout mainland Europe, where it is widespread but nowhere very common.
Not far from the Sword-leaved Helleborines were the similar Broad-leaved Helleborine. These are not quite flowering just yet so we had to make do with the flower heads and the broad leaves for identification.
The Broad-leaved Helleborine is a tall, dark orchid with
leaves that spiral around the stem and purple-tinged, drooping flowers. It
flowers from July to September and can mostly be seen in woodlands and scrub.
It has broad, oval leaves, with strong veins, at its base,
and smaller leaves that wind their way up its stem. A single flower spike has
loose clusters of 'drooping' flowers that are greenish with a purple tinge.
Some species of wasp and bee that are attracted to Broad-leaved Helleborines have been noted as becoming 'intoxicated' after
visiting these orchids for nectar - it appears that the flowers can contain a
kind of alcohol as a result of a fungus! The bees like it so much, they come
back for more, ensuring the flower is pollinated.
We will be back to Chappetts Copse earlier next year to hopefully find the Fly and Bird's Nest Orchids. Today we were happy with the two Helleborines.
Despite the weather it had been a very successful day with three new orchids for me and the lovely Lizard and Bee Orchids.
No comments:
Post a Comment