Orchis simia - Monkey Orchid

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Liliopsida - Order: Orchidales - Family: Orchidaceae

Description

The Monkey Orchid grows to between 15-30cm tall and has 4-6 pale green-to-white basal leaves with a few smaller leaves clasping the upper stem. Each inflorescence carries between 15-55 flowers which open from the top of the spike downwards. The upper sepals and petals are white veined with pink and form a hood over the lip of the flower. The lip is three-lobed, and white marked with pink dots. The lip divides further into secondary lobes which are curly and project in all directions - the 'limbs of the monkey'.

Distribution

Very rare in the UK and confined to only three sites, two in Kent and one in Oxfordshire. The Monkey Orchid is widespread in Europe from Holland in the north as far south as the Mediterranean region. It is also found central and eastern Europe and in North Africa.

Habitat

The Monkey Orchid favours full sun to mid-shade on dryish calcareous soils and occasionally appears in open woodland.

Very occasionally you may come across a pure white form of Monkey Orchid.

Flowering times

In the UK this orchid flowers in late May and early June. Further south in Europe - in southern France for instance - it is one of the first orchids to flower and can be found in April.

The specimens shown on this page were photographed in the Lot Valley and in the Aveyron region of southern France in May.

Varieties and Hybrids

Hybrids

Hybrids with the Military Orchid Orchis militaris Orchis x beyrichii were recorded in the Thames Valley until the middle of the 19th Century but neither of the parent plants remains at the site.
Orchis x bergonii, a hybrid with the Man Orchid Orchis anthropophora, appeared briefly in Kent but this has been attributed to a mistake with hand pollination.

Etymology

The genus name Orchis means 'testacles', a reference to the twin tubers of orchids in this genus. The specific epithet simia is the Latin name that Carl Linnaeus gave to the primate genus (e.g. monkeys), and of course it matches the common name Monkey Orchid.

Reference sources

The Plant List

Anne and Simon Harrap (2005) Orchids of Britain and Ireland; A&C Black

Pierre Delforge (2005) Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East; A&C Black

Fielding, Turland and Mathew (2005) Flowers of Crete; Kew