Orchid for May: Man orchid (Orchis anthropophora)
In his latest blog about London's orchids, London Wildlife Trust's Conservation Ecologist Michael Waller introduces us to the 'man orchid'.
In his latest blog about London's orchids, London Wildlife Trust's Conservation Ecologist Michael Waller introduces us to the 'man orchid'.
This rare fragment of surviving downland in Biggin Hill is said to have inspired a local man called Charles Darwin.
In his latest blog about London's orchids, London Wildlife Trust's Conservation Ecologist Michael Waller introduces us to the deceptive 'bee orchid'.
In the first in a series of blogs about London's orchids, London Wildlife Trust's Conservation Ecologist Michael Waller introduces us to the 'early purple'.
The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
This unassuming orchid is easily overlooked. It is found patchily across the UK, but has been declining for decades.
The petals of the rare Lizard orchid's flowers form the head, legs and long tail of a lizard. They are greenish, with light pink spots and stripes, and smell strongly of goats! Spot this tall…
The Pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem. It likes chalk grassland, sand dunes, roadside verges and quarries…
A short, but pretty plant of unimproved grasslands, the Green-winged orchid gets its name from the green veins in the 'hood' of its flowers. Look for it in May and June.
This is probably the most widespread and commonest of the marsh orchids.