Orchid Family:-

Orchids are "perennials, with either a creeping fleshy rootstock or a pair of root-tubers, and leaves always undivided and untoothed, often long, narrow, keeled and somewhat fleshy. Flowers often but by no means always showy, in unbranched terminal spikes, very various but always with 3 sepals which are usually the same colour as the 2 upper petals; lowest petal extremely variable, usually much larger than the others and in the form of a lip, often remarkably shaped and spurred behind. The flowers are in fact usually upside down; if not, the lip is uppermost. Each flower has a small leaf-like bract at its base, and the stamen and stigmas joined in a single column in the centre. The fruits are egg-shaped or cylindrical, with immensely numerous seeds like grains of dust. " from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Orchid Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Habitat Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

American Lady's Tresses

(Irish Lady's Tresses)

Spiranthes romanzoffiana

(Spiranthes gemmipara, Spiranthes stricta)

August-September

A rhizomatous herb of acidic, nutrient poor, periodically flooded or flushed vegetation, often growing on peaty soils by rivers, streams and lake margins. It frequently occurs amongst Molinia caerulea in pastures grazed by cattle or ponies. Reproduction is mostly vegetative in our area. Lowland.

Flower on 14 September

Flowers on 14 September

Foliage on 14 September

Form on 22 August

Autumn Lady's Tresses

Spiranthes spiralis

August-September

A rhizomatous herb of unimproved, well-grazed grassland on dry calcareous soils, especially on chalk and limestone, and on cliff-tops and sand dunes; also on lawns and, rarely, on less acidic heathland. It can persist for many years without flowering, appearing in hundreds when grazing or mowing ceases. Lowland.

Flower at Ashurst in Kent on 24 September

Flowers at Queensdown Warren in Kent in September

Flowers at Queensdown Warren in September

Form at Ashurst on 21 September

Bee Orchid

(Same as Late Spider-orchid on Page 3)

Ophrys apifera

June-July

A tuberous perennial herb of calcareous, well-drained soils. Habitats include grasslands, scrub, railway banks, roadsides, lawns, sand dunes and limestone pavement; also disturbed sites such as quarries, gravel-pits and industrial waste ground. 0-335 m (near Parsley Hay, Derbys.).

Flower from Murrough Sand Dunes

Flower

Foliage on 28 June

Form on 28 July

Flower from Murrough Sand Dunes in County Clare

Flowers from Blackhead

Flower and Irish Burnet Moth at Blackhead in County Clare

Seed Pod

Bird's-nest Orchid

Neottia nidus-avis

June-July

This saprophytic herb is most frequent in the deep humus of densely shaded Fagus woods on chalky soils. Less commonly it occurs in mixed deciduous woodland and mature Corylus coppices, on soils derived from limestones and base-rich clays and sands. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Kent on 31 May

Form from Kent on 31 May

Flower from Chatham in Kent on 1 June

Flower

Seed from Barham in Kent

Form at Westwell in Kent on 29 May

Flower from Westwell in Kent on 2 June

Flower Bud

Seedhead

Flowers with Butterfly in Vaduz of Lichenstein on 19 May

Bog Orchid

(Bog Adder's-mouth, Bog Adder's-mouth Orchid)

Hammarbya paludosa

(Malaxis paludosa, Ophrys paludosa)

July-September

A pseudobulbous herb of boggy areas where the water is usually acidic but subject to some lateral movement. Typically it grows amongst saturated Sphagnum, but also on peaty mud and among grasses on the edges of runnels and flushes. 0-500 m (Llyn Anafon, Caerns.).

Flower at New Forest on 25 August

Flowers at New Forest on 25 August

Foliage at New Forest on 25 August. At the base of the Bog orchid there are two to four small leaves sheathing two swellings called pseudobulbs, from which grows the flower spike.

Form at New Forest on 15 August

Flower at New Forest on 15 August

Flowers at New Forest on 25 August

Bulbils at New Forest on 25 August

Bulbils at New Forest on 25 August

Broad Helleborine

(Same as White Helleborine on Page 4)

Cephalanthera damasonium

May-July

A shade-loving rhizomatous perennial herb usually found in woods with little ground cover, especially those of Fagus, but also extending into chalk scrub. It is restricted to well-drained soils on chalk and oolitic limestone. It is usually self-pollinated and the flowers often fail to open entirely. Lowland.

Flower from Kent on 6 June

Flower Bud in East Kent in June

Foliage from East Kent in June

Form from Kent in 6 June

Burnt-Tip Orchid

(Burnt Orchid)

Orchis ustulata

May-June

This tuberous perennial herb requires warm, dry conditions and is often found in tightly grazed chalk and limestone grassland on S.-facing slopes. It also occurs on sandy and gravelly soils in river meadows and on sand dunes. Lowland.

Flower on 12 July

Flower on 12 July

Foliage from Kent on 26 May

Form which is 12 inches high on 12 July

Flower Bud on 12 July

Juvenile Flowers on 12 July

Flowers from Kent on 4 June

Flowers from Queensdown Warren

Butterfly Orchid

(Greater Butterfly Orchid)

Platanthera chlorantha

June-July

This perennial herb is found in a wide variety of habitats, usually on well-drained calcareous soils. Typical habitats include downland, rough pasture, hay meadows, scrub, woodland and young plantations. It sometimes occurs on sand dunes and railway embankments. Rarely, it grows on slightly acidic soils in moorland and wet, heathy pasture. 0-460 m (Harwood Dale, S. Northumb.).

Flower from Diabaig Ross on 26 June

Flower from East Kent on 7 July

Foliage from Kent on 9 June

Form from Kent on 9 June

Common Helleborine

(Broad Helleborine, Broad-leaved Helleborine)

Epipactis helleborine

(Serapias helleborine, Epipactis latifolia)

July-September

A rhizomatous perennial herb of calcareous to slightly acidic soils. Habitats include coniferous and deciduous woodland, hedgerows, shady banks, streamsides, roadsides, Alnus carr, dune-slacks, limestone pavement and screes. It may invade secondary woodland and also occurs in urban habitats, particularly abandoned gardens; it is said to be more common in Glasgow than anywhere else in Britain (Allan & Woods, 1993). 0-350 m (Ystradfellte, Brecs.).

Flower from Yockletts Bank on 20 August

Flower Buds from Yockletts Bank on 20 August

Flowers from Yockletts Bank on 20 August

Form from East Kent on 12 July

Flower from Kent

Flowers from Kent

Flower Buds from Kent

Form from Kent

Flower

Flowers

Flower from East Kent on 20 August

Flower with Fly from East Kent on 20 August

Flower from Halling in Kent on 8 August

Flowers from Halling on 8 August

Foliage from East Kent on 12 July

Form

Common Spotted Orchid

Dactylorchis fuchsii

(Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

June-August

This tuberous perennial herb grows on neutral or base-rich soils in a wide range of habitats, including deciduous woodland, scrub, roadsides, chalk grassland, meadows, marshes, dune-slacks, fens and mildly acidic heaths. It can become abundant in artificial habitats such as waste ground, abandoned gravel-pits, quarries and railway embankments.

Flower from Kent on 21 June

Flowers. Photo from BritishFlora

Foliage. Photo from BritishFlora

Form. Photo from BritishFlora

Flower from County Clare

Flowers

Foliage from Borough Green in Kent in July

Form from Borough Green in July

Flowers from Cliffe in Kent on 9 June

Flowers from Eccles in Kent on 3 June

Form from Eccles in Kent on 3 June

Flower Buds from East Kent on 31 May

Common Twayblade

(Twayblade)

Listera ovata

May-July

A rhizomatous perennial herb found on a wide range of calcareous to mildly acidic soils. Its habitats include grassland, woodland, hedgerows, scrub, sand dunes, dune-slacks, limestone pavement and heathland; in Anglesey and Ireland it also grows in fens. It frequently occurs, sometimes as large colonies, on railway embankments and in disused quarries and sand-pits. 0-670 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth).

Flower from Kent on 31 May

Flowers from East Kent in June

Foliage on 9 July

Form on 9 July

Flower from Lough Aleenum in County Clare on 13 June

Flowers from Strood in Kent

Flower Bud in East Kent in June

Form

Connaught Marsh Orchid

(Flecked Marsh Orchid, The Blood-Red Dactylorhiza)

Dactylorchis cruenta

(Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. cruenta)

May-July

A tuberous perennial herb which grows in W. Ross on gently sloping, lightly grazed, neutral to slightly alkaline flushed grassland and, in W. Sutherland, in a Carex lasiocarpa mire. Species counts published in the last 20 years range from 15,000 to 35,000 for orchid genera.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form