Brett Richards
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Orchid for ID, Flamborough (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Brett Richards
- Start date
leptochila
Well-known member
Looks like Heath Spotted orchid but could be a hybrid between Common Spotted and Northern Marsh or just a weird Common Spotted.
Mike
Mike
Brett Richards
Well-known member
lewis20126
Well-known member
Heath Spotted for me
cheers, a
cheers, a
Brett Richards
Well-known member
leptochila
Well-known member
Sometimes they can be spotless.
Brett Richards
Well-known member
For me it's a good match for Dactylorhiza x formosa, the hybrid between northern marsh & heath spotted. I saw several plants just like this recently in lowland Scotland.
Ghostly Vision
Well-known member
And if the Lynesmeister agrees, then I do too.
I think this is probably a hybrid, but with the variability of such things, can Common Spotted Orchid be ruled out as one of the parents? Or possibly even Southern Marsh as another? Heath Spotted x Northern Marsh may be correct, but how can we be certain?
As well as morphological features of a plant, I would also use surrounding conditions and populations of Marsh Orchids nearby to influence a conclusion, which cant really be done from these photos. Flamborough is mostly on the chalk, so how common would Heath Spotted Orchid be in the locality? I guess there may be areas of drift deposits/clay capping sufficient to produce base poor conditions, but without more local knowledge, I would expect it to be rare and possibly absent?
As an aside, the habitat shown in the second photo appears to be relatively species poor with what looks to be Yorkshire Fog, White Clover and Common Fleabane (?) (ok its a very small area of habitat shown). I tend to think of Heath Spotted Orchids as preferring better quality acid grasslands and heathlands. Do people see populations in the UK in more species poor neutral grasslands elsewhere?
Cheers,
As well as morphological features of a plant, I would also use surrounding conditions and populations of Marsh Orchids nearby to influence a conclusion, which cant really be done from these photos. Flamborough is mostly on the chalk, so how common would Heath Spotted Orchid be in the locality? I guess there may be areas of drift deposits/clay capping sufficient to produce base poor conditions, but without more local knowledge, I would expect it to be rare and possibly absent?
As an aside, the habitat shown in the second photo appears to be relatively species poor with what looks to be Yorkshire Fog, White Clover and Common Fleabane (?) (ok its a very small area of habitat shown). I tend to think of Heath Spotted Orchids as preferring better quality acid grasslands and heathlands. Do people see populations in the UK in more species poor neutral grasslands elsewhere?
Cheers,
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