Not done a plant for a bit so time to change that. I’ve just come back from a great walk around my local nature reserve. It was just great to be out and about and within nature, good for the soul. I’d fully intended to go just for the birds but ended up being distracted by just about everything else, I ended up just taking it all in. I did endeavour to ID some things and note them down, but that really didn’t matter, I would have got a lot out of it if I hadn’t.
What: Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Druce) Soó
When: 20th June 2020
Where: Jackson’s Brickworks, Cheshire (VC58), United Kingdom
Who saw it? Me
How was it recorded? I will upload the sighting to iRecord.
Is it bigger than a blackbird? Probably ever so slightly taller.
What is it? A light-pink orchid with spotted leaves (named after the leaves, not the flowers). The flowers are gathered around the stalk, and have a darker pink W shaped pattern within the light-pink surroundings. It is the most common orchid in the UK and can be found in many habitats. It does however, hybridize with another species, the Southern Marsh Orchid D. praettermissa so it may be difficult to ID correctly as a pure species at times. They attract a variety of insects, and I often see things like Burnet Moths taking nectar from the flowers.
A fact I didn’t know about this species: First identified and named in the UK. Was named after a German botanist named Fuchs. Britain’s most common orchid.
Is it charismatic in my opinion? My usual default settings for plants is no, they don’t really do anything to warrant charisma. And that won’t change for this one, sorry…
A Species a Day 