Orchids of the Via Gellia

Making the most of the sunshine I spent the morning with Pam orchid hunting in the Via Gellia. There were plenty of Early Purple and a few Common Spotted Orchids but most of the former were now past their best, but my main target were the rarer species. 

In one area I found a good number of Burnt-tip Orchids and nearby, rarest of them all in Derbyshire, just five spikes of the Green-winged.

Green-winged Orchid

Burn-tip Orchid

After some careful searching we also found the striking Fly Orchid but we were perhaps a little early for the Frog Orchid which occurs in similar habitat.

Fly Orchid

Orchid hunting around the Via Gellia

I spent the afternoon, which started cool and overcast but ended in sweltering sunshine, searching for some of our early flowering orchids around the Via Gellia. My main target was the Burnt or Burnt-tip Orchid but I think I was slightly late as I only found three flowering spikes and only one of these was in reasonable condition. Nearby were the shrivelled stems of two Green-winged Orchid which I have still yet to see in good condition locally so will have to return a little earlier next year.
There were however lots of Fly Orchids and these appear to be flowering later than normal, as I usually expect to see them at their best in the last days of May. I didn't search all that hard but only found a single Frog Orchid.

Burnt Orchid

Fly Orchid

Frog Orchid

Fly Orchid - Via Gellia

I'd mentioned at my last visit to the Via Gellia that the Fly Orchids were not quite in flower so I made a return visit today and wasn't disappointed. How a flower evolves to look like this I don't know, when fresh it looks like someone has pinned an alien spacemen on to the flower stem, or perhaps a fly! Fantastic plants.

Fly Orchid

Fly's and Frog's in the Via Ghellia

Visited some of the disused quarries in the Via Ghellia for the orchids today.

Fly Orchid