Eifel Germany part 1 Ophrys sp.

[RobS]

At the end of May with a small group of friends and family we visited the Eifel in Germany to see some native orchids. Most of these orchids are (very) rare or not present in The Netherlands. Our guide was a friend who used to be active in the German organisation who counts the number of orchids and species found in different locations. So this gave us some nice locations of which some are more difficult to find. Unfortunately we are suffering from a severe drought in Western Europe so many of the specimens were smaller then expected and also frequency was down. Certain species were not found in their expected habitat.

Probably there will be between 3 and 4 posts on this trip arriving in the coming day(s). I decided to group the orchids either by habitat where we found them or genus.

The first post is on Ophrys which is a genus of insect mimicking orchids who try to attract males by using pheromones. All of the species are rather variable and natural hybrids do happen but can be created by man in sites where more then one species is present.

We found two species Ophrys insectifera and Ophrys holoserica. The last one is considered a synonym of Ophrys apifera by KEW.

The habitat where we found Ophrys insectifera and Ophrys holoserica. Besides the two Ophrys species we also found several Platanthera chlorantha.





Ophrys insectifera (fly orchid)









Ophrys holoserica (late spider-orchid)











Ophrys insectifera X Ophrys holoserica

[RosieC]

Oh wow, great find. I've only ever seen these in cultivation. The guy I buy my Cyps from grows them. So great to see pictures of them in the wild!

[camille1585]

Ooooo, I love Ophrys!!! It's been a while since I've seen some, back when I lived on the edge of the Alps.

I would really love to be able to go on an orchid tour like that!

[Shirley]

Thank you, Rob, for sharing. Very interesting!

[prem]

Thank you so much for sharing all of these!!!

[Tindomul]

Wow! Those lips are insane. Very insect looking, even the second species. Thanks for sharing.