Orthochilus vinosus

The lip and lateral petals of an Orthochilus vinosus flower are borne inside the whorl of three (also purple) sepals that don’t spread very widely.

There is space in the flower mouth though, sufficient for insects or birds to check and check again whether these flowers haven’t upped their game and started to produce nectar. Alas, the result is always the same, no nectar here!

A remarkable side-effect of the visit may occur, however: A pollinarium from the flower often becomes attached to the visiting slow learner’s body and carried to the next flower. This happens on enough occasions for seed formation that secures survival of the O. vinosus species.

It does not often happen in the world that stupidity triumphs over perceptiveness and understanding. But biological diversity is well served in this case by the poor ability of energetic pollinators to tell the difference between nectar rich flowers and the orchids that mimic them.

Foolishness was once, long ago praised by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in his essay, Moriae Encomium (In Praise of Folly). But Erasmus was really praising a wise friend, the heroic Thomas More (who died a martyr) and exposing self-deception and superstition among people, causing misery. Double entendre was even in those times a favourite among writers of satirical bent.

So one can’t in our time be too hard on insects barred from education, paid or unpaid, for errors in flower identification, given what levels of erudition people have to offer regarding the plants they encounter when strolling in nature.

Flowering of O. vinosus happens in spring (Wikipedia; www.orchidspecies.com).