A rare flower which hasn't been seen in
Jersey for nearly a century has been found in St Ouen.
It's the first record of the Early Spider
Orchid in the island since 1929.
Early Spider Orchids were recorded in
Jersey in 1910 with the last record being in 1929. The orchid was discovered by
chance by National Trust staff members Sally Dalman and Stephen Le Quesne who
were leading a half-term nature club for children. It was found growing on a
patch of dune grassland in an area that has recently been intensively managed
by the the Trust’s ranger team.
Sally Dalman said: ‘It’s an incredibly
exciting discovery and all the Trust staff and many Island botanist’s are thrilled
by this find. Finding it was a complete fluke as we were out leading a nature
walk at the time.’
The find was verified by the botany section
of the Société Jersiaise shortly afterwards.
This species of orchid is mainly found on
the south coast of England in Dorset, Sussex and Kent and flowers from late
March until early June. It has a preference for locations near the sea, largely
on shortly grazed turf.
According to the National Trust, early
Spider-orchids usually have two to seven flowers on a stem although some plants
at Samphire Hoe in Kent have up to 17 flowers on a stem. Another feature which
varies between colonies is the success of seed setting. They can self-pollinate
but most pollination that takes place is carried out by pollinators, largely
the male solitary bee, variations in seed setting could be linked to the
absence of pollinators. Because Early Spider-orchids rarely reproduce
vegetatively the colonies of short lived orchids depend on seed set from the
low rate of pollination that does take place.
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