Bee Orchids and Corn Marigold in North Essex
TERRI TARPEY
33 Bristol Road, Colchester, COl 2YU t.tarpey@aspects.net
About five or six years ago a farmer at Bulmer took three areas of land out of production and put them
into set-aside. They were areas of naturally low-fertility. He did not sow any crop or grass ley, just
allowing natural colonisation and for nature to take its course. Subsequent management has involved
annual cutting in late June with control by herbicide for Common Ragwort Senecio jacobaea and
Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense. Last year he noticed a few Bee Orchids Ophrys apifera had flowered
amongst the other vegetation. This year there were over one thousand. At his invitation I visited the
area on 24th June 2001 and took several photographs, one of which was of a variant colour form.
Bee Orchids do throw up abnormal colour forms from time to time and, according to Lang (2001)
there are seven such forms that have been recognised in Britain, five of which also occur elsewhere
in Europe. Three of these forms have been found in north Essex within a few miles of each other.
In 1997 Jonathan Tyler found a large colony of Bee Orchids on a Christmas tree plantation near his
home at Alphamstone. Amongst these were the variants var. bicolor (Naegli) Nelson and var.
chlorantha (Hegetschw.) Richter (see plate 4). In var. bicolor the base of the labellum is greenish
and lacking any pattern with the rest of the labellum a dark brown. Lang gives other records of this
variant from Anglesey, Dorset and Warwickshire. In var. chlorantha the sepals are white, the labellum
lacks the usual basal red-brown pigmentation and appears a yellow-green. Sanford (1991) states
that this variety is quite frequent at a number of sites in Suffolk and Lang also gives records from
East Sussex and South Yorkshire.
The third variant, found this year, var. belgarum Ettlinger, has a well-rounded labellum, lacking
side lobes (see plate 4). The ground colour is a dark chestnut with a yellow band across the middle
and subsidiary bands extending from the sides of the middle band up to the shoulders. Lang gives
records from Hampshire, Hertfordshire and North Somerset.
Nearly 70 species of plant had colonised the set-aside including Ox-Eye Daisy Leucanthemum
vulgare and Common Centaury Centaurium erythraea. Other species, which are not so common in
the north east of the county, were Trailing St John's-Wort Hypericum humifusum, Common Cudweed
Filago vulgaris, Common Broomrape Orobanche minor, Meadow Fescue Festuca pratensis and
Viper's-bugloss Echium vulgare.
It was interesting to note the differences that had arisen in the vegetation on these three areas of set-
aside, which arc quite close to one another. The most frequent species varied: the first area had an
abundance of Red Fescue Festuca rubra, Meadow Fescue and Common Cat's-ear Hypochaeris
radicata; the central area had Perennial Rye-grass Lolium perenne. Black Medick Medicago lupulina
and Common Cat's-ear and the third area held plentiful Creeping Thistle, Common Ragwort and
Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus.
The three areas of set-aside are on a slight rise surrounding a field growing wheat. The farmer
remembers Corn Marigold Chrysanthemum segetum being present in this field as a child and there
have been sporadic occurrences over the years due to the type of crop grown and/or corners or
strips being missed whilst spraying. In 2001 he intentionally left an area of the field unsprayed and
was rewarded by ablaze of colour of Corn Marigolds mixed with Common Poppy Papaver rhoeas
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 19 (2002)
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