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

Musk Orchid

Herminium monorchis

June-July

A tuberous perennial herb of short turf on calcareous soils overlying chalk or oolitic limestone, particularly on the small terracettes of steep slopes. It also grows on quarry floors and on old lime kiln spoil heaps. Lowland.

Flower from Kent on 28 June

Flowers from Kent in May

Foliage from North Downs

Form from North Downs

Flower Buds from Strood in Kent in July

Flowers from Kent on 28 June

Form

Form from Kent on 28 June

Narrow Helleborine

(Long-leaved Helleborine, Narrow-leaved Helleborine)

Cephalanthera longifolia

May-June

A rhizomatous perennial herb found in a variety of woodland types on calcareous soils, usually on chalk and hard limestone but also on calcareous schist in Scotland. It prefers permanent patches of light and is most frequent on steep, rocky slopes with an open tree canopy, but is also found along woodland edges and rides, and in scrub. Lowland.

Flower from Sussex

Flowers from Sussex

Foliage from Sussex

Form from Sussex on 11 June

Flower

Flower

Foliage from Inverkirkaig in Sutherland on 24 June

Form from Inverkirkaig on 24 June

Flower

Flowers from Sussex

Foliage

Form

Narrow-Lipped Helleborine

Epipactis leptochila

July

A rhizomatous perennial herb found in three distinct habitats: the deep shade of Fagus woods on calcareous substrates; under Betula on well-drained stony soils and spoil, often polluted with lead and zinc; and on the edges of dune-slacks where it grows amongst Salix repens and can spread into neighbouring conifer plantations. Lowland.

Flower

Flower with flying insect on 5 August

Foliage from Urach on 21 July

Form from Urach on 21 July

Flower

Flower with Spider

Foliage from East Sussex on 11 June

Form from East Sussex on 11 June

Flower from East Kent on 14 August

Foliage from East Kent on 23 August

Seeds from East Kent on 23 August

Form from East Kent on 23 August

Northern Marsh Orchid

Dactylorchis purpurella

(Dactylorhiza purpurella)

May-July, the latest Marsh Orchid

A tuberous perennial herb of neutral to base-rich soils, occurring in dune-slacks, fens, marshes, wet meadows, flushes, ditches and on roadside verges. It is also frequent in old quarries and urban waste land, where it can colonise drier sites such as rubble, and it occasionally grows in neglected gardens. 0-610 m (Creag Dhuba, Loch Ericht, Westerness).

Flower from Culkein Drumberg in Sutherland on 27 June

Flowers from Culkein Drumberg on 27 June

Foliage from Culkein Drumberg on 27 June

Form from Diabaig in Ross on 20 June

Flower near Lochinver in Sutherland on 20 June

Flowers near Lochinver on 20 June

Foliage near Lochinver on 20 June

Form near Lochinver on 20 June

Flower Buds from Lochinver on 20 June

Flowers from Diabaig on 26 June

Foliage from Diabaig on 26 June

Flower Buds near Lochinver on 20 June

Pugsley's Marsh Orchid

(Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid)

Dactylorchis traunsteineri

(Dactylorhiza traunsteinerii, Dactylorhiza traunsteinerioides)

May-June

A tuberous perennial herb of damp, base-rich habitats such as marshes, water-meadows, flushes and fens. It sometimes prefers more open flushed or very wet areas with reduced competition. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Pyramidal Orchid

Anacamptis pyramidalis

July-August, later than the Scented Orchid

A tuberous perennial herb of well-drained calcareous soils. It is found in shortly grazed downland, dune-slacks and on cliff-tops, and also in the longer grass of semi-stable dunes, scrub, roadside verges and churchyards. It also grows in the grikes of limestone pavement, and can colonise the disturbed ground of abandoned quarries, industrial waste land and railway embankments. 0-350 m (Brough, Westmorland).

Flower at Park Gate

Flowers at Park Gate

Flowers at Park Gate

Flowers at Halling

Pyramidal Orchid Form at Halling in Kent

Flower in Kent on 28 April

Flowers from Strood

Flowers from Kent on 2 July

Flower Buds in Kent

Form from Sandwich in Kent on 27 June

Ron Foord among the ladies in Kent on 15 May

Red Helleborine

Cephalanthera rubra

June-July

A long-lived rhizomatous perennial herb of well-drained sloping sites in deciduous woods, particularly those of Fagus, on calcareous soils. It is a poor competitor and does not form large colonies. Flowers are rarely produced and seed-set is very low, possibly due to the rarity of suitable pollinators. Lowland. It only flowers irregularly, when the degree of half-shade it needs is exactly right.

Pyramidal Orchid Form at Strood in Kent

Flower on 18 June

Flowers on 18 June

Foliage on 21 May

Form on 21 May

Flower on 18 June

Flower Buds on 18 June

Flower Buds on 19 May

Flowers on 18 June

Scented Orchid

(Fragrant Orchid)

Gymnadenia conopsea

June-July

A tuberous perennial herb of both dry and moist chalk and limestone grasslands, limestone pavement, less acidic heaths, and wetter habitats such as base-rich fens. It also grows in artificial habitats, including quarries and railway banks. 0-610 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth).

Flower from Betty Hill in Sutherland on 25 June

Flowers

Foliage from Betty Hill on 25 June

Form

Flower from Kent on 23 June

Flowers from North Downs in Kent in June

Foliage from Queensdown Warren on 5 June

Form from Queensdown Warren on 5 June

Flower at Queensdown Warren on 21 June

Flowers from Queensdown Warren on 21 June

Form from East Kent on 15 June

Flower Buds on 17 July

Flower at Queensdown Warren on 21 June

Flowers from Queensdown Warren on 21 June

Flowers

Flowers from Park Gate

Small White Orchid

(White Mountain Orchid)

Leucorchis albida

(Pseudorchis albida)

May-June

A tuberous perennial herb of well-drained hill pastures, streamsides, mountain grasslands and cliff ledges on a range of dry, acidic or calcareous soils; also on recently burnt moorland, but not persisting when Calluna regrows. Rarely, it occurs in acidic Quercus woodland. 0-550 m (Ben Chaisteil, Main Argyll).

Flower

Flowers on 11 July

Foliage from Strath Bran on 24 June

Form

Form from Inchnadamph in Sutherland on 20 June

Flowers from Inchnadamph on 20 June

Flowers from Slieve Elva in County Clare on 17 June

Foliage

Form

Form from Strath Bran in Ross on 24 June

Soldier Orchid

(Military Orchid)

Orchis militaris

May-June

A tuberous perennial herb found on chalk in grassland, scrub, woodland glades and a chalk-pit. It was planted on industrial waste ground in S. Lancashire, and in new sites in Cambridgeshire and Kent. Lowland.

Flower on 3 June

Flower on 10 June

Flowers on 24 May

Flowers

Flower

Flower

Southern Marsh Orchid

Dactylorchis praetermissa

(Dactylorhiza praetermissa)

June-July

A tuberous perennial herb of calcareous marshes, fens, damp meadows, roadsides and dune-slacks, and also less acidic bogs and wet heathland. It avoids areas that are inundated for long periods, and is rarely found in drier sites such as chalk downland. It also colonises artificial habitats such as quarries and industrial waste ground. Lowland.

Flower from Kent

Flowers from Kent

Foliage

Form

Flower

Form from Kent on 27 June

Flower from Kenfig Burrows on 11 July

Flowers from Kenfig Burrows on 11 July

Form from Ham Fen in Kent on 11 July

Juvenile Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Form

Spider Orchid

(Early Spider Orchid)

Ophrys sphegodes

March-May

A winter-green, short-lived perennial tuberous herb of ancient, species-rich, heavily grazed grassland on chalk and Purbeck limestone. It can, however, tolerate taller grassland, and has also been found colonising disturbed ground in limestone quarries, old spoil heaps and by tracks. Lowland.

Flower from Kent on 27 April

Flowers from Queensdown Warren on 27 April

Foliage from Queensdown Warren

Form from Queensdown Warren

Form from Kent on 27 April

Flower on 2 April

Flower from Queensdown Warren in May

Flower from Queensdown Warren on 27 April

Form

Form from Queensdown Warren in Kent

Violet Helleborine

Epipactis purpurata

August onwards

A perennial herb found in a range of woodland types. It is most frequent in densely shaded Fagus woods, particularly those on `clay-with-flints` deposits, but is also found on calcareous, and occasionally acidic, sands and clays in mixed woodland and coppices of Corylus and Carpinus. Lowland.

Flower from Kent on 8 August

Flowers from Kent on 16 August

Foliage from Kent on 16 August

Form

Form from Kent on 8 August

Flower from Kent on 1 September

Flower from Kent in September

Foliage from Kent on 8 August

Old Flower with juvenile seed from Kent in Septebmer

Flowers from Tenterden in Kent on 8 August

White Helleborine

(Same as Broad Helleborine on Page 1)

Cephalanthera damasonium

June-July

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 from Kent in June

Flowers from Queensdown Warren in June

Foliage from Queensdown Warren in June

Form from Queensdown Warren in June

Form

Flower from Queensdown Warren in Kent in June

Flower from Queensdown Warren in June

Foliage from Queensdown Warren in June

Form