Bee Orchid Varieties

There are a number of different Bee Orchid varieties to be found in Britain.  Until June 2008 I had only seen the one, v. belgarum.  But this week I have seen and photographed another four varieties, and I would like to acknowledge the help of Howard Parsons, who accompanied me and showed me three of them.

Perhaps the most widely known is the one referred to as the Wasp Orchid var, trollii , and which was, for a time, considered to be a separate species. It occurs regularly at a few sites in the west country, but it is rare. This plant was photographed in Warwickshire, and I have also seen them in Somerset.

bee trolli-01		bee trolli-02

Var Belgarum was first described in 1998 by Ettlinger (Harrap/Foley 2005) and is found in Cumbria, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Hampshire and Somerset.  This plant is part of a colony growing beside a fairway on a golf course in Somerset, but I have been advised that no plants flowered in 2008, and it looks like the area had been sprayed with weedkiller.

Bee Belgarum-04

Var Bicolor  has no speculum on the lip, and is very rare. It has been recorded in Dorset, Essex, Warwickshire and Anglesey, although Foley (2005) says it is believed to be extinct on Anglesey. These plants were photographed in Warwickshire.

bee bicolor-01		bee bicolor-01

Var Chlorantha is to my mind the most striking variety of  Bee Orchid. It lacks the pigments which give colour to the flower, which is thus green, yellow and white, with a "ghost" pattern on the lip. It is said by Foley to be widespread in the south, being known from many counties, and there is a large colony in South Yorkshire. These plants were photographed in Somerset

bee chlorantha-01		bee chlorantha-03
bee chlorantha-04		bee chlorantha-05

And finally, we come to var friburgensis, which has been found in Hampshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire (where it was first found in 1984 [Lang 1989]) and Derry. The enlarged sepals are the distinctive feature, and it may be easily overlooked given its overall similarity to the species type. These plants were photographed just south of Bristol.

bee friburgensis-01		bee friburgensis-02

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