chris_o_hughes
Early Marsh Orchid
Early Marsh Orchid.
Dactylorhiza incarnata.
Windrush.
Very excited over this....
When I found some peculiar seed heads last September I wondered, could they be orchids? Nothing in my books or on the internet to allow identification so the long wait commenced.
Early Spring and some very orchid like leaves began appearing. I could rule out the spotted orchids and began to believe they were either Southern Marsh or Early Marsh. Hooded leaf tips suggested the latter.
Flower spikes began to form and armed with tripod, black cardboard (background), mirror (uplight) and a rucksack full of optimism I set off to get a photo - only to find the field had been mown flat.
Where there had been several hundred emerging flower spikes there were now just decapitated plants and a few ripped leaves.
All not entirely lost, a search revealed a few had ducked the mower blades and quite a number still developing flower spikes albeit shorn of their leaves.
Will try and resist flooding Flickr with images as the flowers grow to their full glory.
ID based on hooded leaf tips, flower has red double loop enclosing spots, and location - boggy field. But if I'm wrong I'd welcome correction.
The Early Marsh hybridises readily with other orchids so to find this colony of the original species isolated from other orchids adds another notch to the thrill.
Early Marsh Orchid
Early Marsh Orchid.
Dactylorhiza incarnata.
Windrush.
Very excited over this....
When I found some peculiar seed heads last September I wondered, could they be orchids? Nothing in my books or on the internet to allow identification so the long wait commenced.
Early Spring and some very orchid like leaves began appearing. I could rule out the spotted orchids and began to believe they were either Southern Marsh or Early Marsh. Hooded leaf tips suggested the latter.
Flower spikes began to form and armed with tripod, black cardboard (background), mirror (uplight) and a rucksack full of optimism I set off to get a photo - only to find the field had been mown flat.
Where there had been several hundred emerging flower spikes there were now just decapitated plants and a few ripped leaves.
All not entirely lost, a search revealed a few had ducked the mower blades and quite a number still developing flower spikes albeit shorn of their leaves.
Will try and resist flooding Flickr with images as the flowers grow to their full glory.
ID based on hooded leaf tips, flower has red double loop enclosing spots, and location - boggy field. But if I'm wrong I'd welcome correction.
The Early Marsh hybridises readily with other orchids so to find this colony of the original species isolated from other orchids adds another notch to the thrill.