Orchids in Suffolk: Tongue Orchid & Bonus "Ochroleuca" Early Marsh

This week, my twitching buddies PL & EU were planning a trip to Suffolk, organised by the Hardy Orchid Society, to see a rare Tongue Orchid. There was much to-ing and fro-ing in sorting out the details and at the last minute EU cried off (called by the siren song of a couple of Mega's up north) and then the trip organiser himself fell ill. So in the end PL and myself sallied forth in the Gnome mobile, setting off late morning to arrive at the (undisclosed) site in deepest, darkest Suffolk. The trip took getting on for three hours and with the car's air conditioning having conked out it was a rather hot and tedious drive there. Still we arrived with keen anticipation and set off for the orchid location itself. 

There had been a couple of other people on the HOS trip who, in the absence of the organiser, had also made their way there under their own steam and one of them took us under his wing and lead us straight to the exact location. And there it was, sitting unobtrusively in a wildflower meadow on the private site. There were three stems, one very much on the way out, one in fine fettle and one a bit on the runty side. We set about taking photos as best we could though unfortunately the sun was positioned on the wrong side of the plants. We were under strict instructions by the site owner to avoid trampling at all costs and to stick to the designated path.

The Greek Ploughshare Tongue Orchid, above and below

 

 

Here showing the relatively small size at about 15cm tall in amongst the Buttercups

The lovely wildflower meadow in which the Tongue Orchid was located

So, what of the provenance of these plants? Firstly, there had in fact been some debate about their identity before it was pinned down (see here) by "Mr Orchid" SC and Kew Gardens as being Serapias bergonii. This species is commonly known as Greek (or Eastern) Ploughshare Tongue Orchid and is a native of the southern Mediterranean and Balkan countries as far west as Italy. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of various other Tongue Orchids before being declared a species in its own right. The Suffolk specimens were originally thought to have been planted there but the owner of the private land where they are located refutes this so they must have arrived under its own steam somehow. Anyway, it was good enough for me and I enjoyed this latest addition to my UK Orchid list.

Having got our fill of these Mediterranean exotics, we went on to our second location. This was very much a bonus visit that the trip organiser had set up, but in his absence we were happy to follow his itinerary. The target was the rare Ochroleuca variety of Early Marsh Orchid, a plae creamy variation on this already quite colour-varied species. Along with our new-found orchid companion, we made our way to the target site where we were greeted by the sight of a lovely boggy fen to tramp about in. Our pin-drop information turned out to be useless so we were left to find them ourselves. In the end it was easy enough, as their pale creamy colour stood out from the lush green vegetation quite strongly. There was also the clue (as always) of the trampling surrounding them.

Above and below Ochroleuca Early Marsh Orchid

 

One aspect of orchiding that I really like is the rummaging around in a bog (or wherever) by myself seeing what I can find so I soon wandered off. I managed to turn up a few more ochroleuca myself as well as some schoenophila varients of Marsh Orchid. The latter are what were formerly know as Pugsley's or Narrow-leaved before they decided to reclassify all the southern ones to this subspecies of Southern Marsh. Having got my eye in on Anglesey on my recent trip there, I was pleased to have picked out it's look-alike for myself.

Above and below - there were plenty of Southern Marsh Orchid

 

 

 

Above and below schoenophila Southern Marsh, 
or "pseudo" Pugsley's as I call them

Rummaging around in a bog - what could be better?

After a while PL and I decided that we'd had our fill and wandered contentedly back to the car. Then it was back on the road for the long slog back home. We both agreed that it had been a most excellent trip out. With a new orchid tick and a new subspecies tick as well, along with some top class bog rummaging, it had been a grand day out.