Présentation et démarche du site internet Orchidée-photo.com Approach Space dedicated to enthusiasts of wild orchids in France: The texts and photos on this site do not claim to be scientific or artistic but aim to help better understand the nature around us, which we often know little about. All photos are taken by the author of these lines, and engravings are borrowed from old, public domain works. The photos can be viewed, and I can provide free files upon request if you indicate their intended use. The first tabs showcase orchids found in France, but they are not endemic and can also be found in other European countries. Some of the illustrative photos come from other countries (Italy, Switzerland, etc.). A final tab presents orchids encountered only outside of France. If you have arrived at this space, you are probably aware that our countryside (and sometimes our cities) host wild orchids. Often so discreet that one can pass by them without noticing, the discovery of a single individual can leave us puzzled when trying to identify the species. It is better to find a colony (a group of several individuals) to confirm an identification. In France, many orchid species grow to 10 to 15 cm in height, with flowers smaller than a centimeter, making them easy to overlook. We simply admire them, sometimes photograph them, but never pick them, as most are rare and fragile. Flowers in vases or herbariums are outdated! And if they happen to appear in our gardens, it will be on their initiative. There's no point in attempting transplantation; it will fail in nearly all cases. For an orchid to grow and thrive, it requires a specific combination of terrain, light, and humidity. Above all, the familiar pollinating insects of the species must be present. These conditions are rare... and almost never where we would like them to be. To know them, to name them, is also to love them. I hope to share my passion with you or exchange with you because your passion is just as valuable as mine! A contact form is available. The views are introduced with a short text about the species, its biotope, and a few distinguishing features for identification. This is not intended to replace more detailed guides, but in these books, the iconographic base is often limited to one or two images, which only partially match your observations. The great variability of orchids cannot be summarized with so few photos, and I have often found myself frustrated with this "scarcity." The goal here is to illustrate each species with a broad photographic base, representing both the typical species and many variants. Please do not hesitate to point out any errors regarding the illustrations or the species they belong to, or any other necessary corrections. Identifying orchids is not a competition to check off the greatest number of species. You may sometimes meet enthusiasts who swear they have seen all the species that are still left for you to discover or confidently claim that certain species, reputed to be rare, are actually common. Let this not discourage you in your quest, and remain humble in front of a tricky species: it is often a variety of the most common species or a dilemma that will not have an absolutely certain solution. Around 70 orchid species will be presented, as well as a few subspecies commonly encountered: almost all of the most common ones. Of the approximately 160 species (species + subspecies) in our territory, this will represent the majority or all of the discoveries you could make during a few regional walks or over a season. The other species are either rare to very rare, some regional and highly localized (and some are still absent from my inventory, which certainly gets richer every year but remains partial due to the need to visit many regions). For others, they will be impossible to identify without the help of specialists. You may encounter helpful people in the field or through online contacts, but for identification assistance, some individuals who are very vocal about their numerous or exceptional discoveries will strangely remain silent about yours. The descriptions are basic but, I hope, understandable and sufficient. I have stuck to simple language to be accessible without a glossary, even at the risk of lacking scientific rigor, which some may criticize: this is intentional. Orchids love to deceive, so don't be surprised if you occasionally encounter one outside its normal biotope, in a region where it is not supposed to thrive, growing at an unrecorded altitude, or blooming outside its usual flowering period!

Anacamptis laxiflora. Orchis à fleurs lâches. Loose-flowered orchid. Where to find it ? Clic on the map and connect to Orchis sauvage, FFO-Fédération France Orchidées The flower stalk is not very dense, hence its name, but this is a characteristic shared by other Anacamptis. The flowers range from light to dark pink. The plant is medium to tall and grows in humid environments (at least part of the year - in 2022, a very dry year, the Hérault station that I frequent did not experience any flowering). The density of the plants is very variable and sometimes the concentrations are significant. They grow in full sun or in slightly shaded environments. Its presence is attested over a large part of the territory but the populations can be low. Click on the photos to enlarge

Neotinea ustulata. Orchis brûlé. Burnt orchid. (L.) A beautiful little orchid whose labellum shape vaguely resembles the Purple Orchid (Orchis purpurea ) from a distance. But upon closer observation, the differences quickly become apparent. The plant measures between 10 and 30 cm and bears a variable inflorescence of tiny helmet-shaped flowers (sepals and petals join together to form a hood over the labellum). The labellum is white, speckled with small purple dots, while the hood is purple, varying in intensity. This orchid can be found across much of the country, except in northern France, and flowers from May to early July, depending on region and altitude (up to 2000 m). It can be abundant or rare depending on the biotope, and quickly disappears if the surrounding vegetation becomes too dense, as it prefers short-grass meadows. There is a subspecies or variety (Neotinea ustulata var. aestivalis ) that flowers in July, mainly in the Alps, and is said to be taller, with a more developed flowering spike. It's not easy to determine whether this is truly a distinct variety or simply a late flowering form of the type species, as there are no known sites where both types bloom at different times. Having observed plants in bloom in July in Savoie (where N. ustulata usually flowers in May in other French departments), I still cannot tell them apart! Morphologically, there is no obvious difference — even though N. ustulata var. aestivalis is sometimes described as “taller,” one can find equally tall individuals of the type species elsewhere. The mountain climate and altitude may also explain the later blooming time. However, in the Essonne region, N. ustulata can be observed in May, and the species or its variety aestivalis blooms in nearby Seine-et-Marne (just 25 km away) from mid-June — with a time gap of nearly six weeks, despite nearly identical climate and altitude. This would seem to support the reality of a variety with a delayed flowering period. The flowers of the aestivalis variety also appear slightly more robust. Notably, its blooming is highly irregular from year to year (a ratio of 1 in 10 at least), which is not the case for N. ustulata , which flowers abundantly and consistently in May. Late spring weather events may explain this irregularity. Still, this is the only population known in the area and is highly localized. Does a temporally shifted flowering in such a micro-population justify naming it a separate variety ? Click on the photos to enlarge

BIOGRAPHY Presentation Amateur photographer since adolescence and passionate about natural sciences even if I did not make it my job, I discovered wild orchids about ten years ago by chance. I am lucky to live in the south of Essonne and not far from the forest of Fontainebleau. Between Etampes and Fontainebleau, the wastelands and limestone lawns, which are very frequent, are home to many orchids: Orchis, Ophrys, Epipactis...but you quickly feel cramped and the passion sometimes becomes an endless quest for new species, 'Hybrids, from Lusus. So I quickly extended my surveys to my native region: the Côte d'Or and the neighboring Jura. Then the Alps and La Vanoise to take advantage of the staggered flowering of certain species at altitude. At the beginning of spring, Aude and Aveyron... How and... why stop? Not being monomaniacal for all that, I also photograph other flowers, the insects that visit them. Good visit to all and do not hesitate to comment! Contact me Email: pascal.decologne@laposte.net Send Thank you for what you sent !

Ophrys speculum. Ophrys miroir. Mirror orchid Also called Ophrys ciliata . eyebrow. A rare species in continental France, it is found in Corsica and on Mediterranean islands. Its almost permanent absence in France would be due to the lack of pollinating insects, so the populations observed are rarely perennial: it appears here and there, disappears and then reappears. But how does it manage to flower? As it is found in the Mediterranean departments, and sporadically on the Atlantic coast, the fertile seeds would arrive carried by the southerly winds, which would allow the emergence of small populations but not their development from flowering plants in France. Easily recognizable with its shiny labellum, sometimes blue, initially surrounded by yellow and then fringed with abundant hair, it looks like it is made of glazed or enameled ceramic. It grows in open wasteland, scrubland and in calcareous soil. Click on the photos to enlarge

Coeloglossum viride. Orchis grenouille. Frog orchid. A rather unobtrusive orchid: its generally green colour, sometimes tinged with red, and its small size (often around ten centimetres) make it invisible in the meadows it loves. It is said to have disappeared from many regions and even though a real decline in populations has been observed, it is sometimes still present but not listed, hidden in the green grass. Genetically close to Dactylorhiza, the genus to which it is sometimes attached, it is nevertheless distinguished morphologically: not very colorful, smaller, with a much shorter nectariferous spur and a bifid labellum that is longer than it is wide. Click on the photos to enlarge

Undetermined pseudophrys . The pseudophrys are sometimes difficult to determine on the one hand because the authors do not agree and as already indicated, the iconographic base supposed to illustrate their guides is limited and varies enormously from one guide to another. The descriptive part is also confusing because the criteria are broad and overlap from one species to another. In their defense, hybrids are common. Should we only see in this case Ophrys fusca and countless varieties or subspecies as long as we agree on stable characters. An observation of a few days in the Aude left me perplexed, here is an anthology of the specimens encountered. In mainland France, you will find on the Parthénope guide of the orchids of France (Bournérias and Prat) O. vasconica, O. lupercalis, O. bilunulata, O. forêti, O. sulcata. Ophrys fusca being considered as an Iberian species. The guide to European orchids from the same publisher (Kühn, Pedersen, Cribb), on the other hand, only recognizes Ophyrs fusca as a species and O. vasconica as a hybrid. Delforge in his guide to orchids in France (ed Delachaux) names O. delforgei, O. bilunulata, O. fusca, O. lupercalis, O. arnoldii, O. forêti, O. sulcata, O. vasconica._cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ Delforge on the one hand and Bournérias and Prat therefore agree on almost all the species and their distribution. Click on the photos to enlarge

Pseudorchis albida. Orchis miel. Small white orchid. An orchid that loves altitude and cool climates: We will find it from 500 m in the Alps, the Pyrenees and sometimes the Massif Central, Jura and Vosges. Elsewhere, we will find it in Northern Europe or in Russia. One of a kind. A medium-sized plant (between 10 and 30 cm), it grows in meadows or at the edge of high-altitude lakes. Quite easy to identify and generally spotable within the vegetation, it develops a variable inflorescence of approximately 10 to 50 flowers. Click on the photos to enlarge

Himantoglossum hircinum. Orchis bouc. Lizard orchid. The orchid is common in almost all departments and flowers between May and June. A little earlier sometimes in some years. It is generally a large, robust orchid that likes calcareous soils and is often found on slopes. It gets its name from a sometimes musky odor, but often the scent is light or absent. The English more accurately call it "lizard orchid" because of its very characteristic oversized and sometimes twisted labellum. Click on the photos to enlarge

Découvrez Ophrys scolopax Ophrys becasse sur Orchidée-photo.com Ophrys philippi. Ophrys de Philippe. Philippe's ophrys. (Grenier) The description of Philippe's Ophrys dates back to 1859, but it was initially considered a hybrid of Ophrys scolopax x Ophrys aranifera. The species is rare and was overshadowed for many years before being "rediscovered" by Pierre-Michel Blais, the current cartographer of the Var. It is apparently the rarest endemic ophrys in France, with only a handful of locations known, solely in the southern part of the Var department. Click on the photos to enlarge

Platanthera bifolia. Platanthère à deux feuilles. Lesser butterfly orchid. Almost as widespread as Planthera chlorantha, this orchid can be found from sea level (but not from Brittany to Pas de Calais) up to 2000 meters. It grows in open meadows and in shaded areas from the end of April to July for high altitude locations. In metropolitan France, we also find Platanthera chlorantha. Differentiating the two is not easy from a morphological point of view: from 20 to 60 cm, the same shades and similar leaves. It will therefore be necessary to approach it closely and observe the inside of the flower. The anthers are distant and trapezoidal in shape for chlorantha and tight and parallel for bifolia. The first views of these two species will therefore illustrate this point. Click on the photos to enlarge

Découvrez Ophrys fuciflora Ophrys frelon sur Orchidée-photo.com Ophrys druentica. Ophrys de la Durance. Durance orchid. (P. Delforge & Viglione) Ophrys druentica was only described in 2006. This shows that it is not one of the absolutely essential species among the taxa related to Ophrys fuciflora. It is difficult to find fundamental differences with the type species. Ophrys × souchei or Ophrys aegertica, which are very similar and also described more recently (in 2012 and 1996 respectively), belong to this group of regional species that do not revolutionize taxonomy, neither through morphology, phenology, nor flowering period. The same goes for micro-populations (<200 individuals) such as those of Ophrys montis-aviarii (and likewise for Ophrys demangei or Ophrys linearis, considered late-flowering to justify their existence, though some orchid enthusiasts are surprised and proud to find them precociously during field trips...!!). Thus, everything overlaps, and even the authors mention possible hybrids... which complicates identification (sic). Are we going mad with Ophrys fuciflora? Kew Garden currently lists Ophrys druentica only as a synonym of Ophrys fuciflora. The species is therefore presented here to report the specimens encountered in the Var under the local name. Almost all of the photographs shown below (May 8 and 9) were taken on a site of 300 to 500 m² and illustrate the diversity of the species within a colony. Often, identifications are made by “sheep-like behavior,” and species are recognized according to the place and date of the shot rather than what they truly are. Swap the photos while declaring another location and date, and no one would detect the trick...