Country diary: A tiny orchid with mighty powers of deception | Oliver Southall
Wolstonbury Hill, West Susse The fly orchid looks like no fly I’ve ever seen – its target insect is a wasp. Even more strange is
Wolstonbury Hill, West Susse The fly orchid looks like no fly I’ve ever seen – its target insect is a wasp. Even more strange is that neither I (nor Charles Darwin) have ever seen one being pollinated Many British orchids are named for their animal or humanoid appearance. List some and you have all the characters for a nursery-rhyme tale of transformation and trickery: lady, frog, man, fly and spider.
Today’s protagonist is the fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), a subtle conjuror of alternate realities and a plant I’m fortunate to encounter yearly on my local South Downs hill. Favouring the dappled interface of chalk grassland and woods, it flowers here from mid-May. It’s hard to spot amid the bugle, wild marjoram, agrimony and dock, but once I have my eye in, I find upwards of 20 plants.
While they look like no fly I’ve ever seen, the tiny blooms do have an uncannily insectile appearance. This is mostly down to a special petal, the labellum, which is minutely modified for luring in pollinators. Up close, I can see how its edges are curved back just so, a sleight of folding which gives the illusion of volume.
An iridescent blue patch at its centre suggests the sheen of folded wings. Continue reading...
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