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©Caroline Gilby 26 th January 2017 Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire By Caroline Gilby For most people orchids are those blowsy things you can buy in every supermarket, so bright and garish they almost look fake. Once rare and tricky to grow, modern horticulture has made them commonplace. Unfortunately, Britain’s native orchids have never been more threatened, several only appearing on a single site in the county. I’m a botanist originally though make my living writing about wine nowadays, so plants have become my hobby. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to track down all the orchids still found in our county. Possibly the most exciting sighting of the year was the bird’s nest orchid, spotted (not by me) in Maulden Woods. This is almost certainly Bedfordshire's rarest and most threatened orchid as only two individual plants had been sighted in the county over the previous eight years and this was a new site for it. Its weird brownish colour is because it lacks chlorophyll so it gets nutrients via a saprophytic relationship with a fungus and tree roots, often beech. It’s quite hard to spot in deep woodland shade so it is possible that more plants have been overlooked – someone I took to see it said it looked dead.

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Page 1: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

HuntingOrchidsinBedfordshireByCarolineGilbyFormostpeopleorchidsarethoseblowsythingsyoucanbuyineverysupermarket,sobrightandgarishtheyalmostlookfake.Oncerareandtrickytogrow,modernhorticulturehasmadethemcommonplace.Unfortunately,Britain’snativeorchidshaveneverbeenmorethreatened,severalonlyappearingonasinglesiteinthecounty.I’mabotanistoriginallythoughmakemylivingwritingaboutwinenowadays,soplantshavebecomemyhobby.Overthelastcoupleofyears,I’vebeentryingtotrackdownalltheorchidsstillfoundinourcounty.Possiblythemostexcitingsightingoftheyearwasthebird’snestorchid,spotted(notbyme)inMauldenWoods.ThisisalmostcertainlyBedfordshire'srarestandmostthreatenedorchidasonlytwoindividualplantshadbeensightedinthecountyoverthepreviouseightyearsandthiswasanewsiteforit.Itsweirdbrownishcolourisbecauseitlackschlorophyllsoitgetsnutrientsviaasaprophyticrelationshipwithafungusandtreeroots,oftenbeech.It’squitehardtospotindeepwoodlandshadesoitispossiblethatmoreplantshavebeenoverlooked–someoneItooktoseeitsaiditlookeddead.

Page 2: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

AlsoveryrareareacoupleofspeciesseenatTotternhoeKnolls.Theendangeredmuskorchidispicturedontheleft.It’ssotinyataround5cmtallyoucouldeasilymissitsotramplingisarealrisk.Andontheright,isthenationallyendangeredmanorchid,onlyfoundonthreesitesinthisareaandnowhereelseinthecounty.Mostoftheplantsareinanareaonlyabout10metresacross.

SomeofourmorecommonspeciesarealsofoundaroundhereonthechalkyclayofTotternhoeKnollsandquarry.Thepyramidalorchidisdistinctiveandeasytorecognisefromtheshapeofitsflowerspike.Itisusuallyvividpinkbutoccasionallyawhitevariantwithnopigmentappears.

Page 3: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

NearbyTotternhoeQuarryisalsofulloforchids(andrarebutterflieslikeDukeofBurgundy,SmallBlueandGreenHairstreak)andtheserathermagnificentspecimensofchalk-hillfragrantorchidwerephotographedhere.Easytospotbecauseofthelongspuronthebackoftheflowerandlovelyscentifyougetdowncloseenough.

KnockingHoeNationalNatureReserveisahugelyimportantsiteforBedfordshire’sorchids.ItistheonlylocationinthewholeoftheEastMidlandsandEastAngliaforthecriticallythreatenedandstunninglybeautifulburntorchid.Alltheplantsknowngrowonasinglehillsideabout25metresacross-shockingtothinkhowvulnerablethistinysiteis.Picturesshowthenormalpigmentandtheevenrarerpalevariant.

Page 4: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

TheotherspecialorchidatKnockingHoeisautumnlady'stresses.Itisourlatestnativeorchidtoflower(towardstheendofAugust)andisfoundononlyonthisonesiteinthewholeoftheChilterns.It’sbeenstudiedheresince1962,makingitthesecondlongestpopulationstudyofwildorchidsintheworld.

Theearliestorchidstoflowereachyearincludethescarcegreen-wingedorchid,whichgrowsintheoldorchardattheaptlynamedOrchidLawnshospitalnearFlitwick.Officiallythere’snopublicaccesshere,butnoonehaseverstoppedmevisiting.Plastictagsshowthatthepopulationiscloselymonitored.

Page 5: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

AndtheotherearlyspeciesisthemorecommonearlypurpleorchidwhichgrowswellindeepshadeinMauldenWoods.

ThefrogorchidisanotherscarcespeciesfoundatFancottMeadownearHoughtonRegis.HeathSpottedorchidisanotherBedfordshireraritythatappearshere(nopicturethough).

Page 6: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

Perhapsthisyear’smostsurprisingwildlifesitewasCowslipMeadowjustofftheA6headingintoLuton.It’saweirdlypeacefuloasisofbogandwildlifesurroundedbyhousesandanindustrialestate,butishometothecounty’sonlycolonyofsouthernmarshorchid,whereitalsohybridiseswithcommonspottedorchid(right),notedforheavilyspottedleaves.

Arguablythemostexotic-lookingofBedfordshire’sorchidsisbeeorchid(apparentlythecounty’ssecondmostcommonorchidandnowadoptedasthecounty’swildflower).Thispopsupongrassland,woodsandchalkyhillsides–seenhereatCentenaryWoodnearFlitton.Andtheotherinsectmimicfoundinthecountyisthenationallyrareflyorchid–seenatHooBitnearPegsdon(actuallyjustintoHerts)andatMarkhamandMoleskinHills.

Page 7: Hunting Orchids in Bedfordshire - WordPress.com · because of the long spur on the back of the flower and lovely scent if you get down close enough. Knocking Hoe National Nature Reserve

©CarolineGilby 26thJanuary2017

Nowontotothehelleborines,whichfloweralittlelater(JuneandJuly)–recentsightingsincludethewhitehelleborine(atMarkhamandMoleskinHills)andtheelusiveviolethelleborine(indeepshadeatKing’sWood,HoughtonConquestfoundin2013afterdecadesofabsence).

Justacouplemorepicturestoshare.Ihaveaself-sowncommon-spottedorchidinmybackgarden–stillexquisite,evenifcommon.Theotherimageistheeasy-to-identifycommontwayblade,withitsdistinctivetwinleaves(atBartonHillsNNR).

Sowhat’sleft?Istillneedtotrackdownlesserbutterflyorchid(seeninthelastcoupleofyearsinPottonWoods),green-floweredhelleborineandearlymarshorchid(Harroldcountryparkisitsonlysite),andgetapictureofgreaterbutterflyorchid.Forreaderswhowanttoknowmore,‘WildOrchidsofBedfordshire”publishedbyBedfordshireNaturalHistorySociety(www.bnhs.org.uk)isanessentialreference.


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