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Tag Archives: British orchids

Twayblades

15 Sunday May 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British orchids, Common twayblade, Neottia ovata, orchid, Twayblade

You could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I spotted these Twayblades (Neottia ovata) during this morning’s walk. I’ve visited this place at least once a month for the last five years, probably more frequently at this time of year to look for butterflies and other insects, yet I’d never noticed these orchids before.

220515 twayblades (1)

And there were plenty of them – 20, 30, possibly more. Their green colour does mean they blend into the background of other plants but still. It was a lesson, to always pay attention … because just look at the beauty I’ve been missing!

220515 twayblades (2)

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Early-purple

22 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British orchids, Early-purple orchid, native orchid, Orchis mascula

I have no fungi to share this Friday so let’s have a floral Friday theme instead. This sublime bloom is my first orchid of the year, an Early-purple (Orchis mascula), one of three surprise finds during a woodland walk on Wednesday.

220422 early purple orchid

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O is for orchid

20 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

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British orchids, British wildflowers, Native British orchid, native orchids, orchids

Perhaps O should really be for obsession, as it seems I have a bit of an obsession for orchids: they have featured in no fewer than nine blog posts this year. Early-purple orchids were the first to flower back in May, followed soon afterwards by the Common spotted-orchids, which also featured in a second post in late June about the variation in their colours and markings. Also in June, the Bee orchids showed their jolly faces, and I tried to get to grip with identifying Southern marsh-orchids. In July, more orchid species that like damp places were in the spotlight, first the Heath spotted-orchids of Aberbargoed, followed soon after by Rhoose Quarry’s magnificent Marsh helleborines. The late-summer-blooming Broad-leaved helleborines featured on the first day of August, and the first days of autumn were brightened by the sight of spiralling Autumn lady’s-tresses. What a feast for the senses these flowers are!

211220 autumn lady's-tresses
211220 bee orchid
211220 broad-leaved helleborine
211220 common spotted
211220 early purple
211220 Heath spotted
211220 marsh helleborine
211220 pyramidal
211220 southern marsh

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Spiralling orchids

05 Sunday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, wildflowers

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Autumn Lady’s-tresses, autumn-flowering orchid, British orchids, native orchids, orchid, Spiranthes spiralis

A botanical treat I look forward to at this time of year is the final show of native orchids for the year, the delicately formed and perfectly named Autumn lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis).

210905 autumn lady's-tresses (1)

When I first started visiting Cosmeston Lakes Country Park only one small clump of these little beauties was known but a couple of years ago another much large colony was discovered. I didn’t do an exact count but there were easily 30 stems, many not yet open, and probably more obscured by the other wildflowers.

210905 autumn lady's-tresses (2)
210905 autumn lady's-tresses (3)

They grow perilously close to a children’s playground area and are in constant danger of being trampled so let’s hope they survive to bloom another year.

210905 autumn lady's-tresses (4)

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Helleborines

01 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

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British orchids, Broad-leaved helleborine, helleborine orchids, orchid

I’ve been watching these Broad-leaved helleborines since I first noticed their flower stems emerging through the grasses and wildflowers in a local park in early June.

210801 broad-leaved helleborine (1)
210801 broad-leaved helleborine (2)

They are plentiful and lush this year – presumably the very wet spring encouraged their growth but, unfortunately, our week-long heat wave has caused many to shrivel and dry before opening fully. Still, I find their flowers rather beautiful.

210801 broad-leaved helleborine (3)210801 broad-leaved helleborine (4)

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Marsh helleborines

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

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British orchids, Epipactis palustris, Marsh helleborine, native orchids

As their current conservation status in Britain is rated amber, meaning they are vulnerable and near-threatened, I feel privileged to have within easy travelling distance a large colony of Marsh helleborines (Epipactis palustris).

210707 marsh helleborine (1)

And, as our rainfall levels in Wales during May were the highest recorded since records began in 1862, this has been a very good year for a plant that thrives in the wet – hence, the ‘Marsh’ in its name.

210707 marsh helleborine (2)
210707 marsh helleborine (3)

These are low-growing orchids, no more than a foot in height, but it is well worth getting down to their level to appreciate more fully the elegant and delicate beauty of their flowers. To my fanciful eye, they sometimes resemble a woman dancing, her frilly white petticoats swirling about her. At other times, I see a white blouse, with an extravagant ruffle down the front, like the jabot worn by some judges. What do you see?

210707 marsh helleborine (4)

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Heath spotted-orchids

04 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British orchids, British wildflowers, Dactylorhiza maculata, Heath spotted-orchid, native orchids

From the often-boggy, mostly acid grasslands at Aberbargoed direct to your screens, this week’s native British orchid is the appropriately named Heath spotted-orchid (remember, the spotted part of that name refers to the marks on its leaves, not its petals). Its scientific name is Dactylorhiza maculata, which the Plantlife website explains as follows: ‘The genus name Dactylorhiza is formed from the Greek words daktylos meaning finger and rhiza meaning root’ – so, this orchid has a multi-fingered root, rather than a single tuber. And maculata means spotted – those leaves.

210704 Heath spotted-orchid (1)

As you can see from the flower spikes below, this is another orchid with some variation in both its colours, which range from white through pink to pale purple, and its markings, which, though they look spotted from a distance, actually have various combinations of streaks and little loops. The shape of the petals is also distinctive, the lower one in particular is less deeply lobed than, for example, the Common spotted-orchid, which the Heath spotted does superficially resemble.

210704 Heath spotted-orchid (2)
210704 Heath spotted-orchid (3)
210704 Heath spotted-orchid (4)

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Variation

25 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

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British orchids, British wildflowers, Common spotted-orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsia, native orchids

I mentioned recently how I sometimes find orchids difficult to identify. These photos illustrate why. As far as I can work out, as they all had spots on their leaves, and in spite of the variation in colours and patterns, these are all Common spotted-orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsia).

210625 common spotted-orchid (1)
210625 common spotted-orchid (2)
210625 common spotted-orchid (3)
210625 common spotted-orchid (4)
210625 common spotted-orchid (5)
210625 common spotted-orchid (6)
210625 common spotted-orchid (7)
210625 common spotted-orchid (8)
210625 common spotted-orchid (9)

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Southern marsh-orchids

16 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

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British native orchids, British orchids, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, Grangemoor Park, native orchids, Southern Marsh-orchid

Mostly, I only see four species of orchid: Early purple, Common spotted, Bee and Pyramidal, so I find it tricky identifying other species. And the fact that many species of orchid hybridise with each other also complicates the identification picture. So, when a Twitter pal tagged me for help identifying a Southern marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) I couldn’t assist, but decided to try to find some for myself to learn more about their appearance. I found one specimen during a recent visit to Aberbargoed (though not at the grasslands) and several at Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park.

The first thing I realised is that you can’t rely on colour. I found another orchid that looked the perfect shade of purple but didn’t have the right markings – perhaps a hybrid of Southern marsh and Common spotted. The two key things for Southern marsh-orchids, it seems to me, in non-botanist speak, are that the upper petals all reach skywards, like a person holding their arms in the air, and that the larger, lower petal has two cascades of spots that sometimes merge in to one but always fall in the centre of the petal, not spreading outwards. I’m sure there’s a more succinct way to phrase that but I think it’s best we each have our own ways to remember key points.

210616 southern marsh-orchid (2)
210616 southern marsh-orchid (3)
210616 southern marsh-orchid (4)

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First Common spotted orchids

03 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Native British orchid

I was delighted yesterday, as I walked up the west paddock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, to spot my first two flowering Common spotted orchids of the year. This is just the beginning of what will, I’m sure, be another stunning display, as both the east and west paddocks are usually awash with orchids in the summer months.

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sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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  • A crow companion May 17, 2022
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