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).

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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.

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.

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Marsh helleborines

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

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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).

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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.

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?

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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.

Variation

25 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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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).

Southern marsh-orchids

16 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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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.

A fiesta of Bee orchids

06 Sunday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants, wildflowers

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#NoMowMay, Bee orchid, British wildflowers, Native British orchid, native orchids, urban orchids, wildflowers in road verges

If you live in or around or anywhere near Cardiff and you like orchids, then get yourself down to Ferry Road in Cardiff Bay, because there is a Bee orchid fiesta happening right now, and probably for the next few weeks.

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It’s completely free. All you have to do is walk along the pavement on the west side of the road adjacent to the Cardiff Bay Retail Centre and look at the verge, because the good folks who manage the Retail Centre agreed to stop mowing said verge this spring, and the result is an explosion of Bee orchids.

I kid you not! One of the council’s community rangers did a count yesterday and reckons there are over 800 spikes, many of which are not yet in bloom. It is seriously amazing, and just shows what botanic marvels are in our road verges if the councils and corporations would just let them grow.

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Early-purple orchids

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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

The 2021 orchid season has begun!

210507 early purple orchids (1)

In my local area, the first orchids to bloom are the Early-purples (Orchis mascula) and this week I was delighted to find them in two local areas, one a nature reserve, the other a woodland I regularly visit.

The Plantlife website notes that there is a legend the ‘Early Purple Orchid grew under Christ’s cross, and the leaves were splattered with the blood of Christ, have resulted in the names Gethesmane and cross flower.’

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The website also lists some of this orchid’s other vernacular names: ‘adder’s meat, bloody butchers, red butchers, goosey ganders, kecklegs, kettle cases and kite’s legs’. Personally, I just call them beautiful!

226/366 Autumn comes early

13 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature

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

200813 autumn lady's-tresses (1) It’s two and a half weeks yet till the calendar tells us it’s autumn, and we’re all melting in the heatwave that currently has much of Britain in its fiery grip, yet the Autumn lady’s-tresses are in full flower. These gorgeous orchids are tiny and not easily spotted amongst long grass and wildflowers but, luckily, I saw a report of a find of over 40 plants in a new-to-me location and went for a look early yesterday morning. Success!

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194/366 Watching, waiting

12 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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British orchids, Broad-leaved helleborine, Grangemoor Park, native orchids

During my lockdown meanders around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, I’ve been keeping an eye on these Broad-leaved helleborines, watching and waiting for them to bloom. Though I’d only found them in one location in previous years, this year I’ve spotted them in three different places around the park.

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Here they are on 17 June, looking healthy, with lots of lush foliage.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 17 june (1)

Just over a week later, on 25 June, flower spikes have developed well on a couple of plants, so I’m hopeful of a good display.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 25 june (1)

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 25 june (2)

I don’t manage to get back this way until 11 July, but I’m full of expectation of a mass of blooms. Unfortunately, though we’ve had plenty of rain, a couple of plants look brown and slightly withered (as they’re adjacent to a well-used footpath, I wonder if passing dogs might have urinated on them). A couple of other plants look as if they’ve been trampled.

200712 broad-leaved helleborine 11 july (1)

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Luckily, I have found two plants with spikes intact and a couple of flowers open on each. Such pretty little things.

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152/366 Pyramids and bees

31 Sunday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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Anacamptis pyramidalis, Bee orchid, British orchids, Grangemoor Park, native orchids, Ophrys apifera), Pyramidal orchid

You might be wondering what pyramids and bees have in common. Well, in this case, they’re both orchids: the Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and the Bee orchid (Ophrys apifera), and I was very pleasantly surprised to see rather a lot of them, especially the Bees, during my most recent walk around Grangemoor Park.

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With their classic triangular shape, Pyramidal orchids are easy to identify. They usually flower during June and July, and each flower spike can contain up to a hundred individual flowers. Interesting fact: the Pyramidal orchid is the county flower of the Isle of Wight.

200531 pyramidal orchid (2) 200531 bee orchid (2)

Bee orchids are my favourite orchids. Their markings and furry texture may be intended to attract bumblebees (and the flowers also produce a female bee smell, apparently) but it’s their laughing ‘faces’ that enchant me and always make me smile. And the people of Bedfordshire made the perfect choice when they selected the Bee orchid as their county flower.

200531 bee orchid (1)