4 minute read
Orchid summer
Possibly our most enigmatic and characterful wildflowers, orchids are often seen as the jewel in a nature reserves’ botanical crown. Here’s how and when to find them. BY STEVE AYLWARD
Bee orchid
Historically 32 of the UK’s 52 species of orchid have been recorded in Suffolk. Today, only around 22 species can be reliably found and even half of those are quite rare. The decline in orchid species over the last 150 years or so is as much a measure of just how Suffolk has changed
Even common species like early purple orchids are no longer widespread
and most notably how old grasslands and meadows have been lost from the agricultural landscape.
Some orchid species have always been rare, restricted to niche habitats such as fens and bogs and unsurprisingly, extensive land drainage has had a huge impact on these. But even commonor- garden species like early purple or common spotted orchids are no longer widespread, being mown out of existence by the tractor’s flail or muscled out of verges by more dominant plants that thrive in today’s nutrient-enriched environment.
One group of orchids that has fared particularly badly are those associated with chalk grassland and the ploughing of this habitat in west Suffolk largely explains the loss of musk, burnt and early spider orchids in the 19th century or earlier.
Grassland, marsh, meadow and wood
Of the orchid species found in Suffolk today, the majority are associated with agriculturally unimproved semi-natural habitats such as grassland and marshes or old woodlands. Orchids are a very good measure of habitat continuity over time, reflecting decades if not centuries of little or no change. An old meadow full of green-winged orchids would probably look no different today to those who cut it for hay or grazed it several hundred years ago. Similarly, ancient woods (those known to have existed since at least 1600 AD) are often reservoirs of great botanical interest and home to eight species of orchid in Suffolk.
The exacting requirements of most orchids means that they typically thrive in habitats full of other wildflowers, many of which are equally dependent on traditional land management and often equally rare. Marsh helleborines for example can be found alongside common butterwort, marsh lousewort and
FIVE AMAZING ORCHID FACTS 1 Orchids were one of the earliest flowering plants evolving 120 million years ago.
2 One species of orchid only grows in ants’ nests in the canopy of rainforest trees.
3 A single orchid seed pod can contain up to 4 million seeds.
4 Some species of orchid can live for up to 100 years.
5 Worldwide, there around 28,000 different orchid species.
black bog rush in calcareous fens, one of Suffolk’s richest botanical environments while green-winged orchids grow amongst such rarities as dyer's greenweed and meadow saffron at Martins’ Meadows.
Hit and miss
Finding orchids in Suffolk can be a hit-and-miss business. Some species of orchid can be spotted a mile off, the dayglo pink of a pyramidal orchid in flower can be seen on road verges even when driving past at 60mph. That contrasts with the green flowered twayblade that can be infuriatingly difficult to spot even when it’s right in front of you. And as for bird’s-nest orchid which is found only in the shadiest corners of ancient woods, you need a great deal of good luck to stumble across its dull brown flower spike, (it doesn’t even produce leaves). Many species of orchid however are quite easy to find, it is usually just a case of visiting the right habitat at the right time of year.
A recent orchid success has been the reintroduction of fen orchid to a valley fen reserve in north Suffolk. Fen orchids
Green-winged orchid
BELOW Frog orchid, common spottedorchid.
had last been recorded in Suffolk in 1974 before disappearing due to a decline in habitat condition and lowered water levels. A number of fen restoration projects starting in the 1990s has reversed these declines and the fens are now in better condition than at any time since the 1950s and the successful reintroduction of fen orchid is the perfect measure of just how much has been achieved.
Orchids on your doorstep
It is even possible to entice one or two species of orchid into gardens. If your soil is a heavy boulder clay or quite chalky and areas of grass can be left uncut during the summer, bee or pyramidal orchids may well find it to their liking. Orchid seeds are minuscule and spread by the wind, and therefore orchids can turn up in the most unlikely of locations if conditions are right.
STEVE AYLWARD
FIVE TOP SPOTS Reserves where orchids can reliably be seen.
Martins' Meadows
Early purple orchid April, greenwinged orchid May, pyramidal orchid June.
Bradfield Woods
Carlton Marshes
Southern marsh orchid June Market Weston Fen
Early marsh orchid May, Marsh helleborine June, Marsh fragrant orchid July.
Black Bourn Valley
Bee orchid June, Southern marsh orchid June.
Reserve info & maps
suffolkwildlifetrust. org/nature-reserves
