but I felt that it wasn't as good as we'd seen...
possibly because of the drought the year before.
Not that that really matters when you get orchids like these...
all these pictures...
including the non-Orchids in the next post, were taken within one kilometre of each other...
I'll use the captions to identify each one... where I can that is.... there are a lot of hybrids at this site...
I hope these pictures brighten this cold, grey period.
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| Monkey Orchid [Orchis simia] Orchis singe... one of the most common at this spot... usually present in great swathes... but not this year. |
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| Monkey Orchid [Orchis simia] Orchis singe... You can see the faces of the monkeys quite clearly on these two pictures. |
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| Lady Orchid [Orchis purpurea] Orchis pourpre... She is a very "loose" Lady this one... there are numerous different hybrids with both O. simia and O. anthropophora. This example is close to type... |
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| Lady Orchid [Orchis purpurea] Orchis pourpre... ...as is this one... but you can see clearly that the "skirts" are different... both in shape and in the "pattern"... wave to the Lady, she is waving at you!! |
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| Not a Lady Orchid ... this one is probably a hybrid between the Lady Orchid and the Man Orchid... a rather suitable hybrid I feel!! |
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| Man Orchid [Orchis anthropophora] Orchis homme-pendu... the hanged man... not a nice name in French... but suited to the image. |
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| Pyramidal Orchid [Anacamptis pyramidalis] Orchis pyramidal... an attractive little plant... the ones on the way into Chaumussay from Le Petit Pressigny are better shaped and easily seen from the car, but there is nowhere to park... these ones are not as big but much easier to photograph. |
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| Caption is with the following picture... |
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| Two Spider Orchids [Ophrys sp.] Ophrys araignée... Comparing the two pictures you will notice that they are wearing different "waistcoats" and the arms of the "teddy bears" are different shapes. These all hybridise very readily so could be closer to Ophrys araneola than O. sphegodes... I am basing this assumption on the very clear face of the "bear", |
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| Twayblade [Listera ovata] Listère ovale... often overlooked because of its green colouration, this orchid is not uncommon. |
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| Twayblade [Listera ovata] Listère ovale... close to, the flowers are really quite attractive. There is someone else hanging around in this picture... a small, green spider... hunting the flies that come to pollinate the orchid. |
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| The little spider is most likely Araniella cucurbitina... so named for the abdomen's resemblance to a cucumber. What look like a pair of eyes in this picture are, in fact, the palps. |
