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| Sue Parker |
Odysseys
& Oddities of the Wild Orchid Hunters
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| Ophrys bombyliflora |
“Go
to the right places in the Algarve at the right times of year, and
the most amazing orchid sights will greet you.” Sue Parker
The
AGM 2017 business meeting for MGAP took place at the Paderne Sports and Social
Club on Saturday 1st April and was followed by an illustrated talk
from Sue Parker. Following lunch, Sue Parker and Pat O´Reilly also led a guided
walk along the Algibre River. As you can guess, orchid spotting was high on the
agenda but we also saw Cistus albidus
performing well, Lavenders and Scillas in profusion as well as some early
flowers on the lovely yellow Genista
hirsuta. The range of orchids on show included Ophrys speculum, O. lutea and O.
fusca as well as Serapias lingua. Early emerging buds of the bright red
parasitic Cytinus rubra were also seen.
Spring
2017 is proving to be a bumper year for the spectacular wildflowers of the
Algarve and in her talk, Sue Parker took us to some of her favourite places on
the Algarve for orchids as well as some European hot spots, including many
stories of the trials and tribulations encountered along the way.
Sue
Parker shares her time between homes in Wales and the Algarve and travels,
mainly in Europe, to see, photograph and learn more about wild terrestrial
orchids. Her passion for wild orchids dates back to her childhood in the Far
East, where epiphytic orchids grew on the fence at the bottom of her garden. To
date Sue has written eight books about wildflowers, including three that are
devoted to terrestrial orchids. She has also made radio and television
programmes about orchids and contributes articles to journals and magazines.
Her
talk gave us an insight on some of the unexpected things that happen while
searching for wildflowers. Including how
very useful it is to have full body rubber fishing waders with you for river
bank searches and a whole new use for carpet fitters knee pads ! Sue did not recommend wearing shorts when
embarking on any plant expeditions in Mediterranean climes as the general
vegetation tends towards the extremely prickly !
The
lovely photos included some familiar friends from Algarve landscapes including Ophrys speculum and some of its
interesting hybrids as well as the rarer butterfly orchid, Anacamptis papilionacea. Sue was keen to hear from anyone knowing
of good orchid sites as these fickle beauties have a habit of disappearing for
several years before making another appearance on the same site. Another threat
to orchid sites was highlighted by Sue, the constant pressure on coastal sites
and urban fringes for development, either for homes or for jobs. Understandable
when the national economy is so fragile but the special habitats of the Algarve
also have a huge economic value and the recent surge in nature tourism proves
the point that we have here a very special botanical region within Europe. A
member of the audience confirmed that a wonderful display of several species of
wild orchids had recently been ploughed up in her area close to Loulé.
The
full range of natural history books by Sue Parker and Pat O´Reilly on the
Algarve are available from MGAP and this includes the NEW EDITION of Wild Orchids of the Algarve as well as Fascinated by Fungi by Pat O´Reilly
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| Ophrys speculum |
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