There are over 40 species of orchid in Britain with some that look very alike. Unlike their tropical cousins, which usually grow in trees, orchids in Britain all grow in the soil. Orchids grow in a number of habitats and conditions but many are found in woodland and some of these can be used as indicators that the wood is ancient (meaning that there has been a woodland on the site since 1600).
The early purple orchid is one of these that indicate a wood is old, and if it is found in the same wood as others, such as bluebells, wood anemones and wood-sorrel it is even more likely to be ancient. Early purples are coming to the end of the flowering season now but if you are lucky you may spot a few as spring was late this year.
Coming into flower from now is the Broad leaved (or common) helleborine, another ancient woodland indicator. It is most common in southern England and becomes less frequent in Scotland and Ireland.
The flower stems of this orchid can be up to 90cm tall and bear up to 100 flowers. The petals vary in colour between green and purple and the stamens (holding the pollen) are modified to sit on top of a yellow sticky patch. This sticky patch helps the plant to reproduce as when insects land on the flower in search of nectar the pollen sticks to the insect. At the next flower the pollen is rubbed off pollinating the flower which should later produce seeds. This is a particularly important process for the broad leaved helleborine as it cannot self-pollinate (to produce seeds) and relies entirely on insects.
An easier orchid to spot is the Common spotted orchid. This orchid is much more common and you may find many of this smaller type growing together in a wood or on scrub or grassland. The leaves are easy to find as they are green with dark purple blotches on them but be careful not to confuse it with a heath spotted or marsh orchid which has rounder spots and generally found on heath or in wetter conditions respectively. The colour of the flowers again varies but is generally white with pinkish markings. The many small flowers are found in a ‘clump’ at the top of the flower stem which is 15-40cm tall.
Orchids can be rare but even the commoner ones should never be picked or dug up.
(June 2006)
