This is because the northern marsh orchid hybridises quite easily with neighbouring orchids, including the
common spotted orchid. So it takes a top botanist to be absolutely certain that he is looking at the real deal.
There are seven species of bat and England's second largest colony of coral-root orchid, plus northern marsh and
common spotted orchid, species of beetle, bee and moth which are nationally and regionally rare, and in summer nine species of butterfly.
The species was so at home that two crimson and purple rhodochila variants of the normally pink
common spotted orchid blossomed at the Coryton interchange.
Reit yn ei ymyl roedd y tegeirian brych yn tyfu (Dactylorhiza fuchsii;
common spotted orchid), ac heb fod ymhell roedd tegeirian brych y rhos (Dactylorhiza maculata; heath spotted orchid).
The
common spotted orchid - or Dactylorhiza fuchsii - is dwindling in Britain as its natural habitats vanish.
He personally counts the tiny flowers, mostly southern marsh orchid and
common spotted orchid, hidden in three acres of wild meadows and keeps a note of their progress.
Flowers like the cowslip, meadow cranesbill,
common spotted orchid and lady's bedstraw grow on special kinds of grassland which are often threatened by new building, road developments and grass cutting.
The restoration of the orchard, meadow maintenance, and hedgerow restoration has also encouraged birds such as jackdaws, kingfishers, little grebe and herons, as well as wildlife and wild flowers, including the
Common Spotted Orchid.
The
Common Spotted Orchid has halted plans for a pounds 65million, 700-cell prison in West Lothian.
The supporting cast includes yellow rattle, the last of the cowslips and the first pink spikes of
common spotted orchid. Tiny blue speedwell shyly hides in the grass and white blossom drifts along the hawthorn hedges.
Ecologists are opposed to the pounds 130m project because they fear it could make the
common spotted orchid extinct.
That's because they hybridise again and again, particularly with the
common spotted orchid. So you must be absolutely certain you are looking at the real deal.