2014 UK Orchids (2 Viewers)

[slatts]

Pyramidals near Heathrow

I live in West London which is actually a quite handy place to be based- Chilterns to the north, Surrey and Hants to the south, Kent to the SE. I was taking a walk on our nearest nature reserve at Hounslow Heath at the beginning of the week and found a really nice patch of pyramidals. This is a vast area so no dog walkers over in this part. And you are so close to Heathrow- spot the plane taking off in the background.

 

[slatts]

Death and survival on the old hill fort

I was up at the old Hampshire hill fort yesterday evening to see burnt orchids at a site which is an SSSI and which Natural England describe in their assessment notes as "The site is of exceptional importance for its population of the rare July flowering form of the burnt-tip orchid Orchis ustulata. This form is morphologically distinct, has a peculiar flowering period and survives now on only about six sites in Britain.Though not at present recognised as being taxonomically a separate species, there is a strong case for protecting all remaining sites." I have been coming here for some years and have seen as many as 50 orchids here. Not only that but the site is rich in wild flowers and butterflies. Well imagine my horror when I saw sheep grazing the site. There wasn't a wild flower to be seen - bar scabious which they obviously don't like, and not a butterfly in site. My worst fears were realised when I got to the corner where the orchids usually are. I found several chewed stumps and about 4 tiny orchids remaining. Chalk downland is a manufactured landscape and needs sheep to contol scrub growth, BUT NOT AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ORCHID SEASON STUPID! Someone has screwed up and I am livid. Emails are being sent to NE who manage the site. Here are some photos of some of the few mangled survivors which I've protected with some hawthorn twigs, and a solitary orchid in a wild flower wasteland. The last photo shows how rich in wild flowers the site usually is.

 

[slatts]

Burnt orchids on the old hill fort

Thes photos show what the site is like in normal years. There are often nice groups of plants sometimes growing up to around 90mm. These are taken in late July 2012. These are wonderful and special sites, to lose them to poor agricultural practice is really a disgrace.

 

[rmielcarek]

I attach an example, albeit a somewhat extreme one; the other two flowers were pretty standard except for the sepaloid petals. I'm now waiting to see what the top bud turns out like!

Rich M

Top bud now open, somewhat different from post #705 but still unusual. Whether or not this now qualifies as var friburgensis is anyone's guess.

Rich M

 

[JeanetteS]

Sadly no epipactis purpurea var. rosea in my neck of the woods (South Glos) this year - both plants have been eaten by slugs (if only they had eaten all of them - they just tasted them and left the rest to wilt). Does anybody know of other sites in Gloucestershire - Bristol - Somerset - Wiltshire?
Jeanettehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/100726900@N08/14570482904/

 

[lewis20126]

I was up at the old Hampshire hill fort yesterday evening to see burnt orchids at a site which is an SSSI and which Natural England describe in their assessment notes as "The site is of exceptional importance for its population of the rare July flowering form of the burnt-tip orchid Orchis ustulata. This form is morphologically distinct, has a peculiar flowering period and survives now on only about six sites in Britain.Though not at present recognised as being taxonomically a separate species, there is a strong case for protecting all remaining sites." I have been coming here for some years and have seen as many as 50 orchids here. Not only that but the site is rich in wild flowers and butterflies. Well imagine my horror when I saw sheep grazing the site. There wasn't a wild flower to be seen - bar scabious which they obviously don't like, and not a butterfly in site. My worst fears were realised when I got to the corner where the orchids usually are. I found several chewed stumps and about 4 tiny orchids remaining. Chalk downland is a manufactured landscape and needs sheep to contol scrub growth, BUT NOT AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ORCHID SEASON STUPID! Someone has screwed up and I am livid. Emails are being sent to NE who manage the site. Here are some photos of some of the few mangled survivors which I've protected with some hawthorn twigs, and a solitary orchid in a wild flower wasteland. The last photo shows how rich in wild flowers the site usually is.

Very disappointing - Any change in management practices on SSSIs MUST be consented by NE and on a chalk grassland SSSI these would include changes to grazing regimes and timings. This is likely to be an illegal act but there will be no action. I imagine the site is owned by one of the large estates and leased to tennants.

I've visited the site about ten years ago and found about 20 spikes.

cheers, alan

 

[leptochila]

I was up at the old Hampshire hill fort yesterday evening to see burnt orchids at a site which is an SSSI and which Natural England describe in their assessment notes as "The site is of exceptional importance for its population of the rare July flowering form of the burnt-tip orchid Orchis ustulata. This form is morphologically distinct, has a peculiar flowering period and survives now on only about six sites in Britain.Though not at present recognised as being taxonomically a separate species, there is a strong case for protecting all remaining sites." I have been coming here for some years and have seen as many as 50 orchids here. Not only that but the site is rich in wild flowers and butterflies. Well imagine my horror when I saw sheep grazing the site. There wasn't a wild flower to be seen - bar scabious which they obviously don't like, and not a butterfly in site. My worst fears were realised when I got to the corner where the orchids usually are. I found several chewed stumps and about 4 tiny orchids remaining. Chalk downland is a manufactured landscape and needs sheep to contol scrub growth, BUT NOT AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ORCHID SEASON STUPID! Someone has screwed up and I am livid. Emails are being sent to NE who manage the site. Here are some photos of some of the few mangled survivors which I've protected with some hawthorn twigs, and a solitary orchid in a wild flower wasteland. The last photo shows how rich in wild flowers the site usually is.

This is a real shame and particularly gutting once you've completed the long walk up the hill from the road. It shouldn't, however, affect the long-term viability of the various orchid and wildflower populations up there. I think someone posted about visiting the same site in late June saying there were a few Burnts out many more to come so the sheep must be a fairly recent issue.

Mike

 

[muba]

Marsh Fragrants

The Marsh Fragants are out at Anderton CP, Northwich. Some good tall and robust specimens, but not as many there as I expected. It looks like something (rabbits) has learned to bit off a flower-spike and feast on the flowers; we found several like this. As the majority of the plants are tall with large inflorescences and presumably older specimens, could this site be in decline? The birch does appear to be dominant.
The small colony of Marsh Helleborines also in flower.

 

[ionh]

Hants burnt

I was there at pretty much the exact time Paul was posting. I also found just four tiny burnts (though looking at Paul's photo, i think i must've missed two of his). I'd guessed the hawthorn twigs weren't coincidental, although they'd already moved well down slope (probably just the wind, which was very strong up there).

I found several chewed stumps and about 4 tiny orchids remaining. Chalk downland is a manufactured landscape and needs sheep to contol scrub growth, BUT NOT AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ORCHID SEASON STUPID! ....Here are some photos of some of the few mangled survivors which I've protected with some hawthorn twigs, and a solitary orchid in a wild flower wasteland. The last photo shows how rich in wild flowers the site usually is.

 

[muba]

Cheshire Dune Helleborines

Last year I posted about finding some helleborines unexpectedly, and though they were going over the young hunter pointed out that they looked like Dune Helleborines.
They are just starting to flower now, and do show all the signs of being Dune Helleborines - crumbling pollinia, absent viscidium, untwisted ovary with pedicle violet at the base, and leaves in two rows. They are growing in the scrub and other vegetation either side of a wide footpath that runs between a mere (reclaimed in last 30 years) and pine woods (over-run with bracken). This is a previously unknown location for this species.

 

[IJS]

This is a real shame and particularly gutting once you've completed the long walk up the hill from the road. It shouldn't, however, affect the long-term viability of the various orchid and wildflower populations up there. I think someone posted about visiting the same site in late June saying there were a few Burnts out many more to come so the sheep must be a fairly recent issue.

Mike

The sheep were there on Tuesday evening. I was also surprised by their presence at this point in the growing season. I have come across this practice before and wonder if, after a few years absence, its actually necessary for sheep to be present at this time to maintain a balanced sward? Anyone know?

Ian

 

[AdrianW]

I was up at the old Hampshire hill fort yesterday evening to see burnt orchids at a site which is an SSSI ... Well imagine my horror when I saw sheep grazing the site.

Coincidentally I was at another late-flowering Burnt site on Wednesday, also on an ancient hill fort, but this time in Wiltshire (also managed by NE), this one currently has a herd of bulls/bullocks trampling around on it... :C

 

[joannacary]

soil type for epipogium aphyllum

Some of you know that I spent a considerable time last year looking for Chiltern ghost orchid, and am doing so again this year.

I am currently seeking information about the precise soil type for the Herefordshire site/s, and wonder if anyone has any information on this that they could share.

Many thanks
Joanna

 

[Harrap's Wild Flowers]

Pointlessly cryptic posts

I have only joined this forum relatively recently, but have noticed a strong tendency for posts to be needlessly cryptic, by which I mean they do not mention sites by name, rather they give a few 'clues'. I cannot see the point of this sort of cryptic post, as it usually takes a few seconds to Google the site anyway. For example (and I do not wish to pick anyone out individually, so please take this as an example), a recent post started 'I was up at the old Hampshire hill fort yesterday evening to see burnt orchids at a site which is an SSSI ...'. If I put 'July flowering Burnt Orchid Hampshire' into Google, the 5th result is the Wikipedia article on Ladle Hill, which is presumably the site being discussed! Earlier this year a site for Bee Orchid vars near Oxford was discussed but not named: I Googled a similar query, and within a couple of minutes had a name, location (Woodstock) and a report giving a map and annual counts!

These obscure messages only serve to confuse discussions (as we don't necessarily know, without having to do a bit of Googling, what site is being discussed, and so get confused threads) and I would suggest also alienate those not 'in the club'.

Orchids have long attracted a strange reverence, mostly quite out of proportion to their actual status, and a perception that everything should be secret (I have even seen posts of photos of Early Purple Orchid with 'locality withheld'!). In the age of the internet not much is a secret, and I suggest that there are only two options. Either keep the site of a rare plant secret if you really, really think that it is necessary, and tell no-one (except the BSBI county recorder, and perhaps the local wildlife trust) - don't post photos, or blogs, or messages, however cryptic, and don't tell a few select mates; OR tell people, post blogs etc, naming the site, but in a responsible manner, by which I mean not giving precise directions, grid references etc. to small, vulnerable populations or lone plants of uncommon or rare orchids.

I also get fed up of hearing unsubstantiated reports of orchids being 'dug up' or 'stolen'; in my experience orchid enthusiasts (like me and you) are much more of a problem due to trampling of surrounding vegetation (and presumably also young or non-flowering plants). The posts that I have used as examples also demonstrate the real threats: the Burnt Orchid site is being grazed at the wrong time (i.e mismanagement or no management), the the Woodstock Bee Orchid site will soon be a housing estate! (habitat destruction).

Simon Harrap

 

[leptochila]

Some of you know that I spent a considerable time last year looking for Chiltern ghost orchid, and am doing so again this year.

I am currently seeking information about the precise soil type for the Herefordshire site/s, and wonder if anyone has any information on this that they could share.

Many thanks
Joanna

Hi Joanna

Sean (Ghostly Vision) will be the best person to answer this post but what I do know is that the soil is acidic and therefore fairly unusual. There's actually Bilberry growing within a few feet of where it flowered.

Mike

 

[leptochila]

Last year I posted about finding some helleborines unexpectedly, and though they were going over the young hunter pointed out that they looked like Dune Helleborines.
They are just starting to flower now, and do show all the signs of being Dune Helleborines - crumbling pollinia, absent viscidium, untwisted ovary with pedicle violet at the base, and leaves in two rows. They are growing in the scrub and other vegetation either side of a wide footpath that runs between a mere (reclaimed in last 30 years) and pine woods (over-run with bracken). This is a previously unknown location for this species.

Hi Steve

As we speculated last year, your plants do indeed appear to be Dune Helleborine. Great stuff! Definitely worth sending the record in and as you say, it's almost certainly a new site.
It's probably the case that, like the Alyn Waters site, they've always been known as Broad-leaved Helleborines here so it does make you think how many more populations there are lurking around in that area!

Mike

 

[leptochila]

If I put 'July flowering Burnt Orchid Hampshire' into Google, the 5th result is the Wikipedia article on Ladle Hill, which is presumably the site being discussed!

Should've listed it as a site in your book Simon!

But no seriously, I do agree to an extent but I don't think it's particularly worthwhile unecessarily publicising some of the sites where rarer species occur. Yes information about them may be accessible elsewhere on the net but I'd like to think it doesn't give everyone the green light to advertise it further. Of course, this really does depend on the sensitivity of the species or the site.

People keen to visit those sites can quite freely PM the people who have posted about them and I know for sure that the community here is always very forth-coming in going out of their way in providing information. Plus I think that process really promotes like-minded souls in speaking to one another and perhaps getting some more useful hints and tips they may have otherwise missed out on through trawling blogs and Wikipedia. This really isn't a closed group at all and I hope it doesn't come across that way.

I do however very much agree that the threat of theft is FAR outweighed by the dangers of mismanagement and trampling. That's not to say it doesn't happen but I think the idea of theft just makes a good story and is usually the simplest one to tell. A good example is one of the Bog Orchid populations in the Elan Valley (Powys) which in 2007 was declared extinct because all the plants were apparently stolen....really? It's since been refound.

Mike

 

[Rafeabrook]

Totternhoe Knolls Update

One of my favourite local spots (Totternhoe Knolls - near Leighton Buzzard) is still producing some great sights. Went up last weekend and in one spot I could have dropped a 1 metre quadrat and recorded 5 orchid species within it!
Common Spotted
Common Twayblade
Musk
Pyramidal
Bee

The Man Orchids are long gone, but apparently there is a Frog there although I couldn't find it.

The Bee's are in good health still with the Pyramidal and Musk in their prime.

Still well worth a visit to anyone.

On a seperate note for anyone in the area, the field opposite Heartwood Forest main entrance (north of Sandridge, St Albans) has the most amazing display of Poppy's Ox-Eye's and Cornflowers I have ever seen. No orchids but stunning nonetheless (see last pic)

 

[Rafeabrook]

Frog & Marsh Helleborine

Once again the forum came up trumps when I asked for locations for Frog Orchids and Marsh Helleborine (thanks guys).

Found a colony of 18+ Frog Orchids up Dunstable Downs (Whipsnade end) and it wasn't difficult to locate the Marsh Helleborine at Dry Sandford Pit.

The Frogs were tough to locate and spot but once I got my eye in there were quite a few small plants up there with a few still in tight bud.

 

[muba]

The Frogs were tough to locate and spot but once I got my eye in there were quite a few small plants up there with a few still in tight bud.

Is this another microclimate effect? Frog Orchids do seem to be affected by weather or something much more than other species.