Bee orchid
Photograph by Chris Bulpitt
A bee orchid, Ophrys apifera (apifera is latin for ‘bee carrying’), photographed on the land side of a coastal dune. The orchid needs a basic ‘soil’ such as chalk down or coastal dune that contains sea shell material. The bee orchid is a European/North African orchid, but is mainly found in Southern Europe where a particular species of Eucera bee occurs. The orchid flowers at the same time as the male bees emerge from their pupae, and the lip of the orchid produces a specific pheromone that attracts them. When they see the flowers they attempt copulation, and a pollen mass attaches to them. They then visit another flower and deposit the pollen on the stigma of the ovary to secure fertilization. Unfortunately, the bee does not exist in Britain, and the flower resorts to self pollination. The bee orchid struggles in Northern Europe, and is thought to be extinct in Scotland. As it lives in very well-drained and ‘poor’ soils, it needs the reserves of its ‘testicular’ tubers and the nutritional support of its associated fungus. Even so, in England it takes 7–8 years from seed to flower and then, unlike in Southern Europe, the plant usually dies. Please do not transplant any into your garden, as they will surely die.
Chris Bulpitt
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