European Orchids & Wildflowers

Be vigilant to wildlife crime! #Orchid thefts have been highlighted recently in Turkey on social media Harvesting for salep and collectors are a big threat to all species with pseudobulbs or root tubers, particularly Himantoglossum and Orchis These guys were caught in the act

I have updated and published my Orchid blog up to the end of May this year. Included are those seen on a trip to the Algarve in April. Enjoy muba.eclipse.co.uk/Steve%27s%20Or… @thenewgalaxy @botany_beck @chrishindle @MarkDowie @duncan_dine @EuropeanOrchids @smurfett722 @JohnAcid @lancsgp

Fly Orchids in South West France, three varieties in four photos. Near Jonzac, Charente Maritime. ⁦@EuropeanOrchids⁩ ⁦@TheJemster⁩

@SteveTandy3 @thenewgalaxy @botany_beck @chrishindle @MarkDowie @duncan_dine @EuropeanOrchids @JohnAcid @lancsgp Thanks for sharing your travels so far. I haven’t been back to the Lots since April 17th - it was noticeable that Purple ruled, but I did find an exception to that “rule” for both spp - but only one each

More orchids from SW France, this time Ophrys scolopax, Woodcock Orchid showing variations, one beauty with white sepals. Charente Maritime. ⁦@TheJemster⁩ ⁦@EuropeanOrchids⁩

My first Bee Orchids (x13) of the year while working just outside Newmarket #orchids #beeorchid #ophrysapifera @ukorchids @BSBIbotany @EuropeanOrchids @wildflower_hour

Thought it might be fun to pull together a collage of the past decade's Ophrys (Fly, Early Spider, Bee, and Late Spider) variation highlights I've seen in Kent, the county that just keeps on giving where #orchids are concerned.

A decent day in the Diois @EuropeanOrchids @GhostlyVision @JohnAcid

D. incarnata ochroleuca. Suffolk. @Botany2021 @botany_beck @chrishindle @duncan_dine @EuropeanOrchids @JohnAcid @lancsgp @smurfett722

My first ever Late Spider Orchid on the Kentish downs this week. Good timing for #OrchidChallenge for #WildflowerHour @wildflower_hour

1/6/25 Kent - A video of a Digger Wasp landing on a Fly #Orchid (Ophrys insectifera), with a face full of pollinia and then engaging in pseudocopulation An absolute treat for the guests of the @Mariposa_Nature tour I was co-leading with @dunnjons #wildflowerhour #OrchidChallenge

1/6/25 - For this week's #wildflowerhour #OrchidChallenge I'm going to choose one of our highlights from @Mariposa_Nature's #Orchids of Kent tour that I co-led with @dunnjons Pseudocopulation in action; a male Sand Wasp (Argogorytes) on a Fly #Orchid (Ophrys insectifera)

My last photos from Noar Hill. Three different plants of yellow Fly orchids including the one that had been flatterned. And just because the rangers had collected all the corrugated iron sheets doesn't mean that they aren't worth a look Slow Worms. @thenewgalaxy @orchidsorknot

Some more Late Spider orchids from today showing variation / possible hybridisation (one photo only). All seen in the excellent company of @HardingRogerC . Lower numbers than recent years, maybe affected by the drought.

Fly Orchid.. so small and delicate they can easily be overlooked.@ukorchids @EuropeanOrchids @BSBIbotany

Platanthera holmboei #orchids #orchid #plants #wildlifephotography #hiking #hikingadventures #spring2025 #spring #chestnut #chestnutforest #lesbos #Lesvos #Greece

#OrchidChallenge for #wildflowerHour... swarms of Fly Orchids in the Derbyshire White Peak, it must be a good year, I gave up counting on 135 plants... probably 110 more than I have seen on this bank previously! @EuropeanOrchids @ukorchids @BSBIbotany #PeakDistrict

Early-purple #Orchids are still looking fine in the shadier corners of the Peak District #OrchidChallenge #wildflowerhour @BSBIbotany @ukorchids @EuropeanOrchids

Found this very interesting orchid on Sicily today , to me looks like a really dark Anacamptis morio subsp. Longicornu , Green Winged Orchid @EuropeanOrchids @Orchid_hunters

Was really a moving day on Sicily from north of Catania to the south , we stopped once for Orchids ,but in two small fields we must have had 15 sp inc Ophrys ,Neotinea and Serapias , still wading thru so let’s start with Ophry bertolonii @EuropeanOrchids @Orchid_hunters

So absolutely made up , my jaw nearly hit the floor when @becky_cmd found this “alba” Brancifort’s Orchid in the lava fields of Mount Etna Sicily this morning , how many orchid enthusiasts have been privileged to find one of these , don’t think we will top this @EuropeanOrchids