The ephemeral orchid
The ephemeral orchid
Last week we were contacted by one of our WNS botany experts with an invitation we couldn’t refuse. All the Society’s botanists had been beating a path to her door, or rather to her back-lawn, where a fine specimen of the Broad-leaved Helleborine had sprung up. This attractive member of the orchid family has interested WNS members for many years: first recorded as ‘well-known in the grounds of Well House’ (later Ilkley College) it’s been appearing and disappearing on the southern slopes around Ilkley and Ben Rhydding in the most mysterious fashion. Yet, though it comes and goes, it seems generally to appear in a band around the 500 foot contour. Described in the literature as a woodland plant, perhaps it is a survivor of the old woods around Ilkley at that level.
But you still don’t know quite where to expect it next. This one popped up in the middle of a lawn, and luckily for it, our friend realised it was something special to be protected from the lawn-mower. Nourished by the lawn fertiliser, it’s now 70 cms high, with bright green leaves spiralling up the stems. It’s difficult to tell whether it’s a single plant or a small clump but it has nine spikes, each covered with tightly-packed pale green flowers, fairly dull from a distance, but inspect it closely and you can see that each flower is flushed with dusky pink in a most attractive way. As we were examining it, we saw a wasp busily delving into one of the flowerlets and demonstrating what a snug fit it was. It emerged with its head covered in pollen; in fact, wasps are the chief pollinators of this plant.
When you see the resulting tiny seeds, which are whisked off in the wind, you wonder how any of them ever survive to find a place to germinate. However, this one did, establishing itself where it was recognised, protected, admired and photographed by enthusiastic waves of botanists – finally being celebrated in the Gazette! A pretty smart plant, we think.
