An orchid that has been missing since 2009 reappears on the roof of the bank

It was a mystery that first fascinated the big English media BBC To Defender Passes Independent. In early June, in the middle of the wild grass on the roof of a building, a very rare species of orchid was found in London. So far absolutely a trivial story … with a description: Ceramias parviflora, an orchid known for its carmine red flowers, has completely disappeared from Great Britain for over ten years.

On the roof of this building in the city’s financial district, an 11-storey building with a branch of the Japanese bank Nomura, you can find wild herbs, daisies, dandelions and buttercups. Ten years ago, owner Mark Patterson, an ecologist, was called in to protect this truly microscopic environment from human hands. Since then, I have been able to identify different types of plants found there each month.

At the end of June, during a routine visit, he made a completely unexpected discovery. “ I was on the roof doing monthly plant readings and immediately knew it was an orchid, but I had no idea what species it was, Handing over the ecologist to the English newspaper Independent. So I took a lot of pictures and went home to see my background stuff. That’s when I realized what it was. “ A total of 15 plants were found on the roof of the building.

The flower is commonly found on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts in France, Spain and Portugal. And then DefenderThe last colony of Seraphim parviflora was discovered in 1989 in Rameyhead, in the southwestern United Kingdom, before disappearing in 1989. “Due to poor land management”.

But, how is this possible?

“The key clue is that orchid seeds are very small and can travel very long distances in the air (One million orchid seeds is like a paper clip). So those of us may have left southern Europe, while the wind that brings dust from the Sahara would then cross the channel and fall back into the capital. “

Quoted by Matt Patterson, The Independent

Beyond travel, the ecologist triggers another hypothesis: this roof had all the elements necessary for its development. According to him, it may actually have seen a small lichen on the ground, which hatches as it does in the Mediterranean. “But honestly all of this is unlikely to happen », He mentions.

If the mystery is not solved, one thing is for sure: nature knows no boundaries.