NEWHAVEN'S BEE ORCHIDS
By Celia Malfroot
The first four pics are local plants, the last two are taken in Rhodes, Greece. One of the four photos shows a yellow ball hanging down, this is a cluster of pollen, being self fertile this can be dragged into the flower by a bee, it would then stick to the very sticky stigmatic surface and good seed would be produced. All orchids' pollen is always in clusters, anthers and stigmas always combined into what is called the column. These are just two of the facts that determine what is an orchid, there are others! Bee orchids are very rare but we are lucky enough to have more than our share locally.