BEESTON COMMON ORCHIDS

   This afternoon was spent in the company of Simon Harrap who guided me around Beeston Common looking for orchids and other wild flowers. Straight away we saw a multitude of Common Spotted orchids in the lush vegetation along with lots of meadow buttercup and clover before heading to the more boggy areas of the common. Even here there were quite a few Common Spotted but Simon pointed out a different flower that looked to me very much like a Southern Marsh orchid but was in fact a Pugsley Marsh orchid. He explained to me the differences in the two species which are not obvious but include the flowers being larger and fewer in number on the spike and also the flower spike having flowers mainly on one side of the stem. Once I had seen one then others became more obvious to my eyes partially hidden amongst the Black Bog Rush as they are not very tall.

   Continuing around to the edge of the boggy area we spotted a few flowers of the Common Twayblade which is one of the most widely distributed species of orchid being found all over the country on various soil types. The actual flower is a very unassuming green colour and is not easy to spot amongst other vegetation but I managed a few pictures as the only other time I had seen it was deep within a dense woodland which made photography difficult.

   Making our way back towards the parked cars we came across some Marsh Helleborines that were in bud and needed another 2 or 3 weeks to show their attractive flowers. Also in bud were Fragrant orchids so maybe I will return towards the end of July to see if I can get pictures of these two.