STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ESMÉE WINKEL

23rd Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill

Late Spider Orchid

Ophrys fuciflora subsp. apulica

Bee orchids are such a lovely group of plants within the orchid family. This ‘Late Spider’ orchid is a type of Bee orchid that crossed my path when I was painting another one at the Hortus botanicus Leiden. It had such a distinguished appearance. To me its flower looks like a dancer wearing a colorful skirt and its pinkish petals spread out like little arms inviting me to paint it. The journey of catching this orchid on paper has been such a joy. Every time I looked up from my paper to its flowers I was greeted with a big smile. However, it probably was inviting its pollinator to come over.

Ophrys, or bee orchids, are nearly always pollinated by solitary bees and these orchids have a peculiar way of attracting them. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from one plant to another of the same species. This enables fertilization and production of seeds from which its offspring can develop. In Ophrys it is always the male bees that visit the flower. The flowers do not attract them with rewards like nectar but instead mimic the female bees and even produce their sex pheromones. These signals stimulate mating behavior in the males and they attempt copulation, or pseudocopulation, with the flowers. During pseudocopulation, pollen is attached to the bee and when it discovers it has been deceived, it flies off with the pollen. When it arrives at another flower of this same orchid species, once again enticed into pseudocopulation, it accidentally transfers this pollen.

Bee orchids are a charismatic group of orchids and I look forward to next spring when they start flowering again!  

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Read more about this artist’s work: Out of the Woods