Day 5 and my first visit to a location that I have read about countless times - Mount Profitis Ilias, 2618 feet of orchid laden heaven. First on the list was Neotinea lactea another lifer, I had seen its sister, Neotinea maculata, growing in Cyprus and it was here too, although they seemed to be fairly small specimens.
Having recorded the Neotinea it was time to roam the slopes, where we found Ophrys dodekanensis, Ophrys oreas, Orchis anthropophora and Orchis provincialis. Sadly the largest spike of Limadorum arbortivum had disappeared - the finger of suspicion firmly pointed in the direction of the goats that were roaming the forest.
It was really nice to finally meet Matt Berry with whom I have had lots of contact by social media but never in the flesh. Great to put a face to the name and an added bonus was that Matt's Mother-in-Law had kindly sent us lunch and I have to say that it was delicious - big thanks from everyone.
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| Neotinea lactea |
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| Neotinea lactea |
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| Neotinea lactea |
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| Neotinea maculata |
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| Neotinea maculata |
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| Neotinea maculata |
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| Orchis anthropophora |
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| Ophrys dodekanensis |
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| Ophrys dodekanensis |
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| Ophrys dodekanensis |
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| Ophrys oreas |
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| Ophrys oreas |
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| Orchis provincialis |
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Ophrys reinholdii
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| Ophrys reinholdii |
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| Ophrys reinholdii |
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| Spikes of Limadorum arbortivum, sadly not in flower. |
Ever onward we continued to search for Paeonia clusii, alas it was not in flower here but I was compensated in the form of Aristolochia guichardii another item of botany that figured on the bucket list. I was starting to think that I might actually see all the targets that I had set for the trip during the long cold winter months of research.
The Dutchman's Pipe, the larval host plant for the Eastern Festoon, Zerynthia cerysii and one obligingly settled nearby and posed well for Ian and myself.
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| Aristolochia guichardii |
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| Eastern Festoon |
Our lunch stop gave us some more Ophrys mammosa but precious little else.
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| Ophrys mammosa |
Our next stop was adjacent to the bridge over a bridge where there were Orchis italica in good numbers.
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| Orchis italica |
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| Orchis italica |
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| Orchis italica |
The last stop of the day was at a known site for the Loose-flowered Orchid, Anacamoptis laxiflora and an added bonus was that they were accompanied by Serapias bergonii. Sadly the clouds were gathering and the light beginning to fall, making photography a tad difficult.
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| Anacamptis laxiflora |
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| Anacamptis laxiflora |
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| Anacamptis laxiflora |
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| Serapias bergonii |
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| Serapias bergonii |
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| Ophrys cornutula |
On the walk back to the bus I spotted a patch of Ophrys bombyliflora - couldn't resist a snap
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| Ophrys bombyliflora |
Still following your odyssey. Keep the posts going.
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin - one last episode to come. Off to La Chappelle en Vercors next Sunday - an adventure on Eurostar and TGV
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