Last year local ecologists discovered a thriving population of bee orchids (Ophrys apiferi) on the (Berwick) roundabout on the A484 when 268 were counted. Another visit this year has so far revealed 72 plants on the roundabout and verges – down on last year’s record but which did include the a rather nice wasp orchid (Ophrys apifera var. trollii), which is an uncommon variety of the bee orchid.

The roundabout (distinctive for the rugby posts from Strady that have been erected there) will be left uncut until the orchids have flowered.

Verges in other areas of the county had good populations of orchids this year. The Conservation Section has liaised with Streetscene and where possible areas have been marked and left where the orchids occur. The A4138 ‘Hendy Link Road’ and the B-road between Saron and Blaenau have also had good displays.

Orchids are remarkable, ancient plants. They produce masses of tiny seeds –- one single pod could contain as many as 4 million seeds but because the seed is so small, it does not possess the natural reservoir of food that most seeds need to be able to grow. Therefore an amazing symbiotic relationship forms between the seedling and certain fungi. The seed must become infected early in its life cycle if it is to develop into a mature plant, and the miccorhizial filaments of the fungus become its lifeline providing nutrients to allow it to grow.