In message
,
Dave Poole writes
Bob wrote:
Looks exactly like our Iris siberica.
I agree - Iris sibirica has 'escaped' on many occasions and is quite
widely naturalised.
Youall would seem to have resolved this one. Thanks.
I'm used to seeing Iris siberica in dense clumps in gardens, so I hadn't
considered it. Stace says that the stems are hollow, and the bracts are
brown and papery when in flower, so I can check these features out if I
have the opportunity.
I've now found another Iris, by another canal. Is this Iris spuria?
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/Iris155.jpg
I also found a lily that appears to have escaped into the wildish. It's
growing in a riverside corridor through a park, but that corridor shows
now evidence of recent cultivation. (The lime trees might have been
planted many years ago.)
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/Lilium64.jpg
Lilium pyrenaicum?
The orchid could be D. praetermissa, but based upon what I can see
from the pic it would appear that the lateral ss are proportionately
longer than the typical sp. and thrust forward and down rather than
being upswept. The loose 'hood' of lateral petals and dorsal sepals
is also rather too 'loose' compared to many of the marsh orchids I've
seen. I'm more inclined to think this may be a hybrid, with the
fragrant orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea somewhere in its background.
The so-called 'spotted orchids' are confusing, largely because they
are so promiscuous and readily hybridise with other species and
genera. 1st generations are easier to identify, but when 2nd and 3rd
gens. arise the difference become very subtle indeed. Worse still if
they stabilise at that stage giving the impression that there is a
'new', undiscovered species.
Gymnadenia is not known from the vicinity. But I'm going to think
further on your suggestion.
I found some more orchids as well (which I haven't yet attempted to
identify) in two batches (not too far apart) which may be the same
taxon. The second is more robust than any orchid I've seen wild other
than Epipactis helleborine.
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/IMG_3208.jpg
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/IMG_3209.jpg
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/IMG_3210.jpg
http://www.stewart.hinsley.me.uk/Images/IMG_3211.jpg
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley