Some thoughts on recent finds

I am writing this because a little under two weeks ago, I went to the site in Kent where the Serapias vomeracea was found two years ago.

Two weeks before that, the three spikes were looking flattened, and so I was concerned that something of great weight had been thrown onto them, this is an area rife with fly tipping, but it seems that it was something more sinsiter, in that possibly, maybe probably, someone has poisoned the plants.

As a friend pointed out, odd that this colony probably the most likely to have arrived in this country by "natural" means.

Other Serapias species have been found in Essex, Sussex and on a green roof in central London, almost certainly those on the green roof and in Suffolk, the seed arrived with soil or other plants.

Earlier this year, Giant Orchid, Himantoglossum robertianum, were found in the Home Counties, offspring of an intorduced plant a decade ago, apparently.

The question arises: "what constitues a natrually occurring intorduction?"

The Giant Orchid has been spreading up the Atlantic and North Sea coasts in France, arriving in the Calais area a few years ago, it seemed only a matter of time before the seeds arrived on warm south-westerly winds.

It is easy now to source plants or seed from the internet for sustainable and not so leagal vendors. These can be planted in the wild, and if the plants or seed take they can be "discovered" and news leaked.

In this, I believe the next such discovery will be Summer Lady's Tresses, which are widely available online, a few planted in a quiet corner of a bog, can be uncovered at some point in the future.

Natural introductions are one thing, but ones which are done by people with good intentions ore not, are done without any considerations for the existing ecosystem. To quote Ian Malcom: "(you) were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”

Orchidists in general are more interested in the unusual rather than the mundane. Take the hybrid Lady x Monkey at Hartstock. Both parent plants are rare in any other county other that Kent, and yet it is these showy hybrid swarms that most visit the site for. I know I did this year, and yet the hybrids create a swarm that cover the hillside, marginalising both parent plants, we should be protecting the much rarer parents.

Odd then that such hybrids have not been seen at Park Gate Down where both parents are also present.

One final thought, I have been told that some hybrids are being removed upon discovery as it is thought that "natural" cross-pollination between the two species is impossible. I would argue, rare but not impossible, especially where both parent plants grow next to each other. The motif is not to create swarms, but then the family don't create swarms, so there is no worry on that count. It's just keeping pur blood parents. I guess.

Maybe then, after what I said about the hybrid swarms at Hartstock that such a dim view on other hybrids is being taken on other species?

So, in summary, to anyone reading this who is thinking of reintroducing a long-extict UK species, or some fancy European species, I would ask long thought is given as to if this is a good idea, and what might happen to existing plants in that existing ecosystem. News this week of a rampant disease affecting Dactylorhiza species on Teesside. Who knows what disease alien plants or seeds could bring with them.

Might be a long shot, but it is possible.