A nature reserve near Goring was the scene of a very rare event, two rare orchids mating to produce an even rarer orchid.
The endangered monkey orchid and the lady orchid can be found at the Hartslock Nature Reserve. It is thought that this is the first time this has happened in the UK.
The hybrid was first seen by Chris Raper, a volunteer warden, who had been monitoring a group of seedlings for the past 3-4 years.
The reserve, owned by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has a website on which Mr Raper describes the moment he found the orchid . He said, "To my surprise when the first flower opened on a wet April morning, I saw it had the purple curly ‘legs’ of a monkey orchid, not the pink ‘crinoline dress’ of a lady orchid. I immediately thought hybrid."
Professor Richard Bateman of the Natural History Museum and Dr Mike Fay of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew were asked to confirm the find.
Professor Bateman said, "Closely related orchid species readily interbreed. In addition it is usually possible to identify which species is the ‘mother’ and which the ‘father’ as the offspring bears a much stronger physical resemblance to the mother.
"In this case, it would appear, appropriately, that the lady orchid is the mother."
Mr Raper is protective of the area and gives a warning on the website, "I know that most visitors think they are being careful and would never knowingly damage a plant, but it still happens far too often.
"When people get excited, they just concentrate on the flowers they have come to see and don’t notice how many plants they are treading on."
The BBOWT is not actively advertising the orchids. Mr Raper states on the website, "This doesn’t mean we have kept them a secret – I tell anyone that asks – but we just don’t want to encourage hundreds of extra visitors in this the first year they have appeared."
Martyn Lane of BBOWT said, "The monkey orchid has always been on this site as far as we know. It’s only found in two native sites in England . The lady orchid became established here for the first time in 1998, although we do not know for sure whether it occurred naturally."
The monkey orchid (Orchis simia) got this name because of its monkey-like flower, and has increased from 60 plants in Hartslock in 1986 to 4,005 in 2006.
The lady orchid (Orchis purpurea) is mostly found in Kent and is rare in other areas.
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Rare orchids breed to create a gem
Tue, 08 Aug 2006
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