On the way back from one of our botanical jaunts a member of our group bellowed "Stop!" to the coach driver as though we were about to be involved in a crash. He had seen some Lady Orchids by the side of the road but there was no parking obvious and we had to miss the opportunity. Next day on the same route we carefully looked for both the plants and a safe parking spot on this winding hill road and found both.

The plants were huge, nearly 1m tall, with long spikes in full flower. O. purpurea grows in Kent in the UK and is not a small plant but these were twice the height of the tallest I had previously seen.

Taxonomy: All authorities agree that the accepted, correct name for this species is Orchis purpurea Huds.

Orchis purpurea Lady Orchid Roadside on hill near Peschici, Gargano, Italy, 25th April 2009 Previous   Next	Orchis purpurea Lady Orchid Roadside on hill near Peschici, Gargano, Italy, 25th April 2009 Previous   Next
Orchis purpurea florets	Orchis purpurea close

Roadside on hill near Peschici, Gargano, Italy, 25th April 2009

Added on January 26th 2010, updated 21st January 2011