Bee orchid Ophrys apifera

[Anne Haden]

Dear all,

The first record of a bee orchid in Jersey was in 1912. Frances Le Sueur had only 4 records in her 1984 flora, the last in 1947, all from Les Quennevais and St Ouen’s Bay. And there have been no other records since 1947.  Some visitors to Jersey in 2005 sent a photograph of a bee orchid to the Eric Young Orchid Foundation that they said they had found in St. Ouen's Bay area but they were unable to say exactly where they had found it. Local botanists have tried to locate bee orchids in the area every year. Yesterday Tina Hull and I found three bee orchid plants north of Le Braye slip in St. Ouen's Bay.  The bee orchid is a protected plant in Jersey.

Best wishes,

Anne Haden

[Andrew Barham]

There's a lovely little colony of them in Guernsey.  They have very specific requirements; namely the need for a limy soil.  the location in Guernsey is along the coastal path in a small sandy depression with lots of seashells in it, which likely provide the lime.  I have been wondering if it might be possible to cultivate the bee orchid someday, using natural methods involving the mycchorizial symbionts innoculated into an appropriate soil medium upon which seeds would be spread.  Determining the right fungal symbiont would have to be the first step.  Then it would have to be cultivated, assuming that it can be cultivated without too much difficulty.

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From: Anne Haden <anne...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "cien...@googlegroups.com" <cien...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 2 June 2012, 21:34
Subject: [CIEnviron] Bee orchid Ophrys apifera

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