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The Bee Orchid is short and stocky with a rosette of leaves at ground level. Two leaves grow up the stem as a sheath and the flower spike has several widely spaced flowers. Perched within the large pink sepals are petals shaped and coloured like a visiting bee.
- What is particular interesting about a bee orchid flower?
- How often do bee orchids flower?
- Are bee orchids common?
- How does a bee orchid know what a bee looks like?
- Can you move bee orchids?
- Are pyramidal orchids rare?
- Are all orchids protected?
- How did bee orchids evolve?
- Are bee orchids rare in UK?
- Where can I find bees orchids?
- How do bee orchids reproduce?
What is particular interesting about a bee orchid flower?
The fuzzy little bee orchid flowers look like real bees feeding on three pink petals. This is one of nature's clever tricks, as bees visit the plant in hopes of mating with the little faux-bees. This bit of bee orchid mimicry ensures the plant is pollinated, as the male bees transfer the pollen to nearby female plants.
How often do bee orchids flower?
Bee orchids may only flower once in their lifetime, which explains their appearance in large numbers in some years and disappearance in others. The seeds germinate in the spring and can take as long as six years before they reach a flowering stage.
Are bee orchids common?
In practical terms, what this means is that bee orchids set plenty of seed pods producing copious seed. For this reason, bee orchids are one of our commonest species, colonising far and wide (at least across much of England – they are highly localised in Wales and largely absent from Scotland).
How does a bee orchid know what a bee looks like?
A small orchid, the Bee orchid has a rosette of leaves at ground level and two leaves that grow up the stem as a sheath. The stem displays a number of relatively large flowers with pink sepals that look like wings, and furry, brown lips that have yellow markings on, just like a bee.
Can you move bee orchids?
Far from being difficult to move, as is often thought, they can in fact be transplanted quite easily, should the necessity arise.
Are pyramidal orchids rare?
emarginata is a rare variety of the Pyramidal Orchid with an almost unlobed lip. It was first found in East Sussex in 1974 and has since been found elsewhere.
Are all orchids protected?
Internationally, all orchids are indeed protected by the 1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES). So orchids need a permit before they are traded across borders, but that's nothing really to do with stopping them from being picked or mown down.
How did bee orchids evolve?
The ancestor of the bee orchid probably relied on nectar to lure bees, just like other flowers. But then a random mutation happened to make one strain look slightly more inviting to bees than the other flowers.
Are bee orchids rare in UK?
Sadly, the right species of bee doesn't occur in the UK, so Bee Orchids are self-pollinated here. Look out for their diminutive flower spikes on dry, chalk and limestone grasslands from June to July.
Where can I find bees orchids?
Where to find Bee Orchid. Found in open grassland on base-rich soil, such as chalk grasslands and also banks, woodland rides and pastures. Bee Orchids like a bit of disturbance - occurring in disused quarries, sand dunes, mine spoil-heaps, roadsides, railway embankment and even waste ground in towns.
How do bee orchids reproduce?
It is believed that male bees preferentially select orchids with the most bee-like labellum and attempt copulation, at which point the pollinia stick to the bee during the pseudocopulation. This achieves pollen transfer and, potentially, pollination.
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