Getting on a Wild Orchid Hunt in Italy
Getting on a Wild Orchid Hunt in Italy
Just because an orchid is most often always described as exotic, it doesn't mean that it's found only in the tropics. While it is true that the tropical areas of the world (most of Asia and Central to South America) are excellent and lush sources, parts of temperate America and Europe have a sizeable number of species.
In the Mediterranean area, the European wild orchid thrives basically in a terrestrial form. A wild orchid that thrives in cold weather is most often rare, which is why the experience of coming up on one just on the heels of winter is most often an amazing and revelatory experience for botanical experts and enthusiasts.
One photographer and writer of numerous noteworthy wild orchid reference books attests that he has had the pleasure of visiting and studying many remarkable sites where one can find a wild orchid, but none holds more interest and intriguing varieties than in Italy's Gargano Peninsula.
The Wild Orchid Population of Gargano
If one examines the map of Italy, the Gargano peninsula is the "spur" that complements Italy's "boot". It is actually an island 40 kilometers from the nearest upland region and is made entirely of limestone. This unique terrain is what makes the terrain favorable to the growth of a wild orchid, producing four endemic variants found nowhere else.
Wild orchid growth occurs in early March and continues on to their peak from April and onwards. The mineral rich limestone soil with its seasonal variations fits the life-cycle of this orchid, damp when necessary or dry during the summer which protects the crucial tubers of the wild-orchid.
The sight of these flowers on a typically splendid summer day is breathtaking. The wild orchid can be so dense and numerous that huge patches of ground are covered with them and virtually of one singular color, whether red with the butterfly orchid or deep violet with the green-winged orchid.
This beauty of course is only seasonal and by the middle of May, much of them are already either dead or dormant, except for one or two variants which can bloom well into June. The wild orchid in this part of the world may remain, at least for now, in its wild and almost inaccessible state. The relative distance of the region from the well-traveled path as well as its terrain makes huge tourist-traffic and possible commercial cultivation extremely foolhardy to attempt.
And perhaps the inaccessibility of the plant serves its name just right. Isn't that what makes a wild orchid "wild"?