Wild orchids

In Portugal there are 55 species of wild orchids. A great part of this species can be found in the Natural Park of Aire and Candeeiros Mountains, namely 27 species! The gorgeous bee orchids are the living proof of how impressively intelligent orchids can be.

These orchids - Ophrys apifera - can be found almost everywhere in Portugal, in alkaline or slightly acidic soils, dry or with some humidity, in open spaces or with little vegetation. They flower between April and June and can reach 50 centimeters-high.

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) considered orchids among world's most complex creatures. They imitate the shape, the colours and the scents of the bees, in order to lure the insects in. Like all orchids, this plant has three sepals and three petals, and the most developed petal, the lip, perfectly mimics the insect that pollinates it, the male bee Eucera longicornis. When the insect finds the flower (either by sight or smell, as orchids release pheromones reminiscent of the female insects that pollinate them), it tries to copulate with it, causing the pollinia (the male part of the flower) to fall on its head. When it "feels cheated", it flies off to another flower to try its luck. If this seduction strategy fails, the bee orchids have the power of self-pollination.

Orchids are among us for 30 million years and they are the masters of delusion, leading insects into believing that they are alike species and seducing them to their biological traps. Today there are more than 30,000 hybrids of the Phalaenopsis genus, all created by humans, and it is estimated that this number grows by between 500 and 1,000 new "species" every year. And there is also a deeply mind-blowing fact about orchids: since Mankind learned how to cultivate orchids back in the end of the 19th century, we also pollinate them !

The strange shapes, sizes, colours and shades and all the extra accessories, hairs, warts, sparkles, moving parts and the most diverse perfumes, are nothing more than strategies that these witty plants have developed over time to seduce their pollinators and attract them to their flowers. The result of the evolution of these marvellous plants has been an enormous and fantastic diversity.

Developing the most complex strategies of delusion and presenting an otherworldly intelligence, the main goal of orchids throughout Time is perfectly clear: survival. And they surely have mastered this demanding task.

Photo credits: Luís Afonso

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