OPHRYS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

Over the years my husband and I have enjoyed spending our holidays on the islands of the Mediterranean and more recently mainland Greece, The Peloponnese and the Cycladic islands have become our firm favourites.  Our interest has turned from touristic activities to a much more exciting pursuit. Hunting orchids!

Ophrys heldreichii, Crete

I have always loved the Orchidaceae family, but in more recent years have fallen under the spell of wild species and wanted to see them growing in their natural environment.  There are many books written on the subject with wonderfully alluring photographs, and before every trip much research is done in advance to establish the right months of the year to visit, species locations and varieties and ease or otherwise of finding their sites.

Ophrys speculum Peloponnese

For practical purposes, I have limited my search to Ophrys, and there are many factors to be taken into consideration when searching for their preferred habitats.  All playing a part are altitude, rainfall, geology (chalk and limestone areas) grasslands, woodland, maquis and garigue, wetlands, and not least in the Mediterranean, temperatures affecting hillside slopes – south facing may just be too hot.

The wilder and unpopulated areas of the Med. and the islands still enjoy unspoilt landscapes where meadows and hillsides rich in all forms of wild flowers can be seen in the Spring, including orchids.  These scenes very much take me back to my childhood and English meadows crammed with a wide range of wild flowers, which sadly are now hard to find.

It is very evident in the Med. where farming and animal grazing have overtaken the landscape. that many indigenous plants, including orchids have all but disappeared.

It is exciting, and not always easy therefore discovering a colony of Ophrys, which are often only found by walking well off road to locations recommended by local information. This can be very unreliable, and can be proceeded by comments such as “Well, there were lots to be seen here last year, so who knows ?“ and “we had a very cold winter and they are a couple of weeks later this year”! Comments which must be all too familiar to leaders of botanical expeditions.

Some wild orchids are also notoriously difficult to identify due to their “promiscuous” nature. I usually take a couple of field guides with me to find features that closely represent the plant at my feet.

And there we come to the next problem – the small size of Ophyrys plants and flowers, which can easily be overlooked or unknowingly trampled on if care is not taken. But what gems they are when closely examined, which usually involves viewing them on all fours at close range. An example is “Ophrys bombiliflora” whose whole plant is around 15-20cm tall, and each flower overall is 2cms.

Ophrys bombyliflora, Majorca

On each of our trips we have been fortunate to find around 5 – 7 different species specific to the area, and over the years we thus have seen a goodly number.

The wild orchids of Europe are protected by law and therefore any close inspection of plant details have to be done on site. For me, wishing to paint a subject in more controlled and comfortable surroundings requires making pencil sketches, detailed notes, taking measurements, and the all important good selection of photographs.  I am reluctant to leave a site until I am confident that I have all the necessary details for a painting to be done at a later date.

Taking a close look at the shy Ophrys flowers has never failed to leave me in awe of nature.  For the most part they are so intricate, colourful and texturally varied, with some sporting fringes of fine hairs. It became clear to me to want to paint them “larger than life” to fully appreciate their beauty. The fully painted images therefore are multiplied up to 4.5 times their natural size, while the ink drawings in comparison are x 1 or x ½ to suit the composition

Isobel Bartholomew  November 2025

Ophrys tenthredinifera, Crete