Small but flamboyant, the Bee Orchid is one of nature's great mimics.



The Bee Orchid is short and stocky with a rosette of leaves at ground level. Two leaves grow up the stem as a sheath and the flower spike has several widely spaced flowers. Perched within the large pink sepals are petals shaped and coloured like a visiting bee. The sepals look like wings and there are furry, brown lips that have yellow markings just like a bee. The deception goes further - as well emitting a female bee scent, the fake "bee" is hairy to touch.

The aim of the mimicry is to attract passing male bees in the hope they will try to mate and thus aid pollination. In Britain, however, bee orchids self-pollinate so the deception is not really required. This self-pollination may account for the high incidence of freaks or so-called monstrous forms. For instance, occasionally flowers with white sepals and unusual lip markings occur.

Where to find Bee Orchid

Found in open grassland on base-rich soil, such as chalk grasslands and also banks, woodland rides and pastures. Bee Orchids like a bit of disturbance - occurring in disused quarries, sand dunes, mine spoil-heaps, roadsides, railway embankment and even waste ground in towns. They sometimes behave like rampant weeds, appearing in large numbers on disturbed chalk grasslands and can also occur on lawns, sometimes many miles from the nearest wild colony. Bee Orchids also inhabit damp places, such as damp, clayey meadows and shallow fens.

How's it doing?

Stable in mainland Britain but has declined in Ireland, mainly due to habitat destruction. Bee Orchids are a protected species in Northern Ireland under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

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