Sunday 19 May
Late spider orchid (Ophrys fuciflora)

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.Late spider orchid fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Late spider orchid description
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Order | Orchidales |
| Family | Orchidaceae |
| Genus | Ophrys (1) |
The rare late spider orchid produces a single upright stem and between two and ten flowers on a spike (2). The pink, purple or sometimes whitish flowers have a broad lip which earns this species its common name due to the similarity of this structure to the body of a spider (2). An area towards the centre of the lip, called the 'speculum' or 'mirror' features a purple or blue pattern in two parallel lines or in the shape of an 'X' or an 'H' (2).
- Synonyms
- Ophrys holoserica.
- Size
- Height: 20-40 cm (2)
-
Britain’s Orchids:
www.britainsorchids.fieldguide.co.uk/?PP=species_account&SPID=69&SHC=3&PSD=2 - Calcareous
- Containing free calcium carbonate, chalky.
- Lip
- In plants, petal or petals that form a lobe.
- Mycorrhizal
- A fungus that forms a close physical association with the roots of a plant, this relationship is mutually beneficial.
- Perennial
- Plants that live for at least three seasons; after an initial period they produce flowers once a year.
- Pollinated
- To transfer pollen grains from the stamen (male part of a flower) to the stigma (female part of a flower) of a flowering plant. This usually leads to fertilisation, the development of seeds and, eventually, a new plant.
- Tuber
- In plants, a thickened stem or root that acts as an underground storage organ. Roots and shoots grow from growth buds, called 'eyes', on the surface of the tuber.
- Vegetative reproduction
- Type of asexual reproduction (reproduction without recombination of genetic material) that results in the propagation of plants using only the vegetative tissues such as leaves or stems. The resulting plant is genetically identical to the original plant. A well-known example of this is the reproduction of strawberry plants from 'runners'.
-
CITES (September, 2008)
http://www.cites.org - Grey-Wilson, C. (1994) Eyewitness Handbooks: Wild Flowers of Britain and Northwest Europe. Dorling Kindersley, London.
-
JNCC Habitat account - Natural and semi-natural grassland formations (September, 2008)
http://www.jncc.gov.uk/protectedsites/SACselection/habitat.asp?FeatureIntCode=H6211 - Stone, D.A. and Russell, R.V. (2000) Population Biology of Late Spider Orchid Ophrys fuciflora- A Study at Wye National Nature Reserve 1987-1998. English Nature, Peterborough.
- Wigginton, M.J. (1999) British Red Data Books 1; Vascular Plants. 3rd Edition. JNCC, Peterborough.
- Rich, T.C.G. (1997) The Management of Semi-natural Grassland for Selected Rare and Scarce Vascular Plants: A Review. English Nature Research Report no. 216. English Nature, Peterborough.
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
Late spider orchid biology
This perennial orchid flowers from June to July, after which the visible parts of the plant die, and it survives the summer as an underground tuber (6). The flowers are pollinated by bees, but very few have been observed in Britain and fruit set is usually less than two percent. The tiny seeds are dispersed by the wind in late July and August (6), and require a mycorrhizal fungus to develop (6). Rosette leaves are produced in the autumn and over-winter, withering after flowering (6). It is thought that most plants do not live very long (44 percent for one to three years, and only five percent more than ten years) but some plants may live for up to 30 years (6). It is capable of vegetative reproduction (5), but most reproduction is from seed (6). Some plants have flowered every year for five years, and others remain dormant under the ground for up to four to seven years (6).
TopLate spider orchid range
The late spider orchid has never been common in Britain; it has only ever been recorded from east Kent and has declined (4). It has been recorded in about 20 sites, of which nine have been seen to be occupied by this orchid since 1990 (5). About 400 to 500 plants are known in Britain (5). In Europe it occurs throughout central southern Europe and reaches east to Asia Minor (4).
TopLate spider orchid habitat
The late spider orchid occurs on chalk downs and banks, usually on steep south-west to east facing scarps, often on deep, well-drained, calcareous, nutrient-poor soils with very little organic matter (6). It grows in grassland less than 20 centimetres tall, but avoids very open dry places (6).
TopLate spider orchid status
The late spider orchid is nationally Rare and Vulnerable in Great Britain, and fully protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) (3) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (1).
TopLate spider orchid threats
The main cause of the decline of the late spider orchid has been changes in agriculture, particularly conversion of grasslands to arable, the decline in grazing, and the use of chemical herbicides and fertilisers. (5). At some sites the late spider orchid is thought to have become extinct due to deep leaf litter and competition with tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum (5). Furthermore, fruit set is very poor, perhaps as a result of a lack of pollinators and poor climate, and reproduction by seed is at best sporadic (6).
TopLate spider orchid conservation
At sites in Wye, east Kent, hand-pollination has been used to try to improve the amount of seed that is set (5). Funding from English Nature has allowed the species to be closely studied at Wye National Nature Reserve (4). All current populations occur within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) (5), and the species is fully protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 (5).
TopFind out more
For more on the conservation of the late spider orchid see:
Authentication
Information authenticated by Tim Rich of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales.
TopGlossary
References
More »Related species
Close
Image credit
© John Mason / www.ardea.com
Ardea wildlife pets environment
35 Brodrick Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 672 2067
Fax: +44 (0) 208 672 8787
ardea@ardea.co.uk
http://www.ardea.com
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.












