rollingthunder said:
I was'nt aware of any subspecies of Fragrant Orchids occuring in either wet or heathy habitats i am familiar with it on unimproved calcareous grassland as conopsea which has always ( to my eyes and nose anyway ) been a distinct colour shape and smell - has this sp been split into sub-types recently ???
Alan - can you throw any light on this ? - i would be most interested
laurie
Ghostly Vision already gives an outline summary of them. They are generally considered to be subspecies rather than species, though.
As is often the case, the best summary is given in '
Plant Crib 1998', edited by Rich & Jermy and published by the Botanical Society of the British Isles. Should be available from their agent,
Summerfield Books. A very good compilation of hints and tips on numerous difficult plant groups (though I had better admit to being a contributor). The
Gymnadenia account, with valuable drawings, is by Frances Rose, who has known all three taxa for a long time.
Spp.
borealis is a generally smaller plant than
conopsea, with a different, often clove scented fragrance. It is the much the commonest subspecies in Scotland and, yes, it can grow on acid heathland (sometimes forms sterile hybrids with Heath-Spotted Orchid). Less common in England but gets down to the Lizard and the New Forest. It might be better considered a distinct species.
As Ghostly Vision says, ssp.
densiflora occurs in wet places, typically in calcareous flushes and fens, sometimes in dryer spots where it can hybridise extensively with ssp.
conopsea. When well grown it has very solid, cylindrical flower-spikes, but it is not always easy to tell at a glance.
Attention to critical details of labellum shape and other parts of the flower is necessary to be sure of identification of any of these.
And I will suggest to Brianfm that if he didn't see the distinctive spurs, then I don't think he should be 100% confident that what he saw were Fragrant Orchids. Sorry. It's a pretty essential feature to check.
Alan
