orchids

Amongst all the beautiful wild flowers here I have seen several orchids. I'm not at all able to put names to them. This pale yellow one was the first it was flowering beneath the Chestnut trees in April and there were quite a few about.






In June there are at least three varieties, a pale purple that looks like a Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata) it was certainly growing on what is now a heath, though it used to be a football pitch! The flowers are pale, with a darker lined pattern on them, the leaves are spotted. Most of the other vegetation is gorse and some heather.
There only seem to be three specimens of this, assuming they are all the same, which I think they are, but they may not be as there are also 2 white orchids as well, growing fairly close, though not together.

There are also plenty of examples of the Bird's-nest Orchid (Neottia nidis-avis), at least that's what I think it is. It is brown and has no leaves and is growing on the edge of old woodland. there are several clumps.


These are just examples that I have seen close to paths.

Saturday, 12th June

We have had a week of very heavy rain, today is marginally better, not brilliant but not actually raining. I went for a walk this morning to see how the rain had affected some of the flowers as some of the fields that have not been mown have been flattened. To my surprise the white orchid has totally disappeared, no seeds, no stem and no leaves, if I hadn't taken a photo I would have started to doubt myself. Likewise a Campanula has disappeared as well. There are lots of flowers and things around so I doubt that the deer and wild boar have suddenly taken a fancy to two rare flowers but something has happened.

wild flowers

Spring in Galicia and lots of wild flowers to be seen, I don't think I have ever seen so many. There are many I know well and would see regularly on country walks in England but some are totally unknown to me and difficult to find names for. I'm no botanist so even my attempts to name the familiar ones may be wrong, but I reckon the primrose is fairly easy!











Primula vulgaris






The violet is pretty easy too. I think this one is the Dog Violet or Viola Riviniana

Red Dead-nettle or Lamium purpuram

Then there's the Buttercup, no idea what kind.

This one is Green Alkanet or Pentaglottis Sempervivens, I can't imagine why it is called green when the flowers are a very pretty shade of blue!

Wood Spurge or Euphorbia amygdaloides

Broom - Cytisus scoparius

This one I believe is the Greater Celandine or Chelidonium majus.

I think this is the Meadow Saxifrage - Saxifraga granulata

and now I reckon the Greater Stitchwort or Stellaria holostea

Which leaves me with those that I really can't attempt to put a name to. I believe this first one may be an orchid of some kind.

It's not helped by the fact that the photo is slightly out of focus. I'll have to try again.

No idea about this at all! The big leaves here don't belong to this flower but to the Green Alkanet, I suspect it's another form of nettle!

These three photos are of the same plant. The flower at the moment is totally nondescript but I'll keep an eye on it. I'm told that in Gallego it is called 'gamon' or something similar, in the autumn the flower dries to a stick and it was used 'in olden times' as a sort of taper.


This seems to be as good as the flower gets!