Destinations
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Iberian orchids
Orchid names and taxonomy have this way of changing and have certainly moved on since my favourite flower book, Mediterranean Wild Flowers by Marjorie Blamey and Christopher Grey-Wilson, was published.
If you are visiting Spain and Portugal, you may find the notes on the following species helpful. This isn’t a complete guide by any means but concentrates on orchids that are quite likely to be found on our holidays.
It would be fair to say that orchid buffs study them carefully and are keen on ‘splitting’ – defining new species. If you are a ‘lumper’ rather than a splitter or just like to enjoy them, that’s OK, of course. The convention for names is to follow Delforge (see right) – arguably he’s pitching the tents of the splitters’ camp.
Conical orchid Orchis conica
This showy species is common at Finca Santa Marta, our Extremadura holiday base. I was calling it milky orchid Orchis lactea as recently as 2007. My excuse is that Blamey doesn’t have this species and even the excellent Crossbill guide to Extremadura lists Orchis lactea rather than Orchis conica. Delforge says that Orchis conica probably replaces Orchis lactea in the Iberian peninsula. Another similar and closely related species is toothed orchid Orchis tridentata. It is quite conical, wouldn’t you say?
Find this orchid in Extremadura and Algarve (with luck).
Two Orchis conica at Finca Santa Marta
Orchis olbiensis
You may sometimes see names written such as Orchis (mascula) olbiensis. This may indicate that it’s an uncertain split from Orchis mascula – early purple orchid – but we sometimes also use this way of listing a species just to show what it’s closely related to – and therefore looks rather like.
Find this orchid in Algarve and our new Central Portugal holiday (in preparation for 2010).
Lusitanian mirror orchid Ophrys vernixia
Blamey calls this Ophrys speculum subsp lusitanica and you can see it’s a little like a mirror orchid Ophrys speculum but much thinner and elongated, reminiscent of a fly orchid Ophrys insectifera.
Find this orchid in Algarve and our new Central Portugal holiday (in preparation for 2010).
Champagne orchid Orchis champagneuxii
Blamey calls this Orchis morio subsp champagneuxii; look carefully and you can see the green veins found in Orchis morio, the green-winged or green-veined orchid. It’s another showy species we see at Finca Santa Marta in Extremadura. The name is nothing to do with colour, fizz, or the Champagne region, even though it does occur in southern France: it’s named after a French botanist M. A B Champagneux. The lip is folded along the middle, so it can look narrower than green-winged orchid from the front, and the spur is thickened at the tip.
Find this orchid in Extremadura.
Champagne orchids at Finca Santa Marta
Ophrys dyris
This is an Algarve variant on the group related to sombre bee orchid Ophrys fusca.
Epipactis lusitanica
This helleborine was a new one on me in Algarve in April 2009. Delforge puts this in a group with Epipactis tremolsii, which isn't in Blamey & Grey-Wilson's book either, but at least the name shows that it's to be expected in Portugal. Its rather small leaves are a distinctive feature.
Chris Durdin, April 2009
[PDF of a guide to orchids in Extremadura here
Extremadura Project Orchid website in Spanish here
More on Spanish orchids, from John Muddeman, here
Orchids in the Dordogne]
There are many books on orchids but this is the book: Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East by Pierre Delforge (A&C Black) (click here for more info). There are also valuable regional orchid guides, including one in Extremadura.
Orchis conica
If you're keen on orchids, have a look at our Dordogne orchid gallery
Orchis olbiensis
Lusitanian mirror orchid Ophrys vernixia
Champagne orchid
Ophrys dyris
