I still have not given up on the search for the putative intergeneric orchid hybrid - the cross between Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) and Early purple orchid (Orchis mascula). I am very doubtful, as is much of the literature, about whether it exists in the wild in Britain though there are a few, old, records on the BSBI database, the most recent from 1985 from Arnside made by a reliable recorder, and recently I saw a picture of this plant. Even so, I am not sure if I was convinced.
Both are pollinated by bees, including bumblebees, but both show low rates of pollination success (20 to 30% seed set for Green-winged and around 10% seed set for Early purple), not surprising perhaps given that they flower early. In addition there are possibly reproductive barriers to cross fertilisation.
Last Sunday I went to Minchinhampton Common and then to Selsley Common in Gloucestershire where both are intermingled looking for plants that ideally had spotted leaves (characteristic of early purple, though not always) and veining on the sepals (characteristic of Green-winged) even if just a hint. I found nothing, and so to another site yesterday near Snowshill, around 20 miles from Hooky, to what looked like an old quarrying area. The same story, despite looking at perhaps more than a hundred plants - at least - where both parents were close together, dwelling on a handful, but concluding that they they fell on one side of the fence or the other.
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| Early Purple Orchids |
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| Early Purple Orchids |
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| Green-winged Orchid |
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| Green-winged Orchid |
A few colour variations of both were interesting but the highlight undoubtedly was the twenty or so plants of Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) and lots of Meadow saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata).
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| Pasque Flower |
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| Pasque Flower |
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| Meadow Saxifrage |
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| Meadow Saxifrage |
