This showy orhid was first described from France in 1779 and its name refers to the shape of the lip
which is also, and unsurprisingly how it gets its common name of Monkey orchid.
It is a common but local species which ranges from southern England down to north Africa and eastwards
as far as Iran. In Britain it was once a relatively easy plant to find and particularly in the area where
the Thames Valley cuts through the Chiltern Hills in the vicinity of Wallingford and Pangbourne. Its
thought that changing agricultural methods employed on the meadows and grassy slopes were unhelpful
but when coupled with the depredations of mindless collector's its fate was becoming predictable and
by the late 1920's it had become exceedingly rare.
All was not lost however and a lot of very hard work by dedicated groups has returned O. simia to a
position where although still a British rarity, its future seems secure. Visits to Hartslock nature reserve
in Oxfordshire or Park Gate Down in Kent will yield good sized colonies of this endearing Orchis .
O. simia is a member of the militaris group and as with its cousins is highly promiscuous when growing in
mixed colonies, particularly with O. militaris, O. anthropophora and O purpurea. A good example of this
can be seen at the aforementioned Hartslock reserve where the O. simia colony has been considerably
influenced by the (probably mischievous) introduction of O. purpurea. In parts of France this
introgression is common and it can often be difficult to say with confidence that any individual plant is a
thoroughbred.
The illustrations are from Vercors, Cilento (Italy), Lesbos, Kent and Oxfordshire.
