Help please Ben!
Printed From: Reptiles and Amphibians of the UK
Category: General
Forum Name: Associated Fauna and Flora
Forum Description: A forum for plants, invertebrates and other animals associated with herpetofauna
URL: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4781
Printed Date: 19 Apr 2024 at 10:11pm
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Topic: Help please Ben!
Posted By: will
Subject: Help please Ben!
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2014 at 7:04pm
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Hi Ben as our resident expert on all things botanical, can you ID what I assume is an orchid for me please? I'm ashamed to say my knowledge of them is almost zero. Found on a Dorset hillside.   |
Replies:
Posted By: Liz Heard
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2014 at 8:47pm
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Hi Will, i think it's a beautiful Greater Butterfly Orchid Platanthera chlorantha. We have these locally. Nice find! |
Posted By: will
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2014 at 7:07am
| thanks Ben, much appreciated! it seemed to be the only one, amongst a host of common spotted (I think...) orchids. Certainly was very elegant indeed. |
Posted By: Liz Heard
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2014 at 8:37pm
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No problem Will - although i'm certainly no expert! I just know more flora taxa that some other people! I get to know these species as i encounter them; whenever i see a plant i don't recognise, my interest is provoked, so i take notes/pics and investigate it later via field guides/ispot/google. Get out and do that regularly over years and before you know it, you build up a fair portfolio of species. Then you can target those that you haven't observed but are have become aware of along the way - just like euroherpers and subspecies etc i suppose. As with UK herps though, for me, its the native species i find in their natural habitat around me (plus common garden escapes and archaeophytes) that i'm most interested in, rather than the myriad garden plant species - yawn! Judging by what i've seen locally, among Orchids, the Common Spotted, the Pyramidal and the Early Purple seem to be some of the best recolonisers. How pleasing it is, to observe them defiantly flicking 2 fingers from roadsides and occasionally, even occurring in gardens. 
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Posted By: will
Date Posted: 13 Jun 2014 at 10:42am
| Thanks again, Ben. I don't think I had realised there were so many species of orchid native to the UK. Yes, cultivars always seem much more garish and unsubtle than the natives, to me. |
Posted By: AGILIS
Date Posted: 13 Jun 2014 at 5:49pm
Hi W ive seen a odd spider orchid and and also the one you tagged over Wogret keith------------- LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
Posted By: Liz Heard
Date Posted: 13 Jun 2014 at 6:51pm
Yes, there are many species of orchid Will (quite a few i've yet to see) and some of them can be hellish to disambiguate from one another - despite all the expert guidance available. And to make matters worse, quite a few similar species share habitat and hybridise. It drives me nuts sometimes!  As UK orchids go, this species is a favourite of mine. It is large, spectacular, fairly widespread and, once seen, easy to ID - a bit like GCN. Keep an eye out for it in woodland or along rides, particularly on calcareous soils: Pictured specimen is around a metre tall! http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/DSCF7659_zpse61be24e.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  Some less cryptic pics: http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/DSCF7635_zpsf1a48848.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/DSCF7666_zpse4f052f0.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  Living up to it's common name, Broad-leaved Helleborine Epipactis helleborine has deeply-veined ovate leaves nearly as wide as they are long, arranged in a spiral up the thin, towering stem.  By the way Will, if you or anyone else reading this sees a Stinkhorn Fungus (very easy to ID - it looks just like an erect human penis) on sandy heathland or dune habitat while out herping for sand lizards, please take some pics, note the location and post or let me know. You may have been lucky enough to find the mysterious Phallus hadriani, the Sand Stinkhorn, (as opposed to the slightly smaller and far less rare Stinkhorn Phallus impudicus). I've never seen a Sand Stinkhorn and records for it are few - perhaps partly because this type of habitat is much less species rich (fungi-wise) and so is seldom visited by mycologists and foraying groups. As i understand it, P. hadriani is mostly known from southern England and is mainly coastal. New records for/pics of this amazing fungus would be splendid! all the best! |
Posted By: will
Date Posted: 13 Jun 2014 at 10:00pm
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Hi Ben that's a giant orchid! I have heard that there are plenty of phalluses visible on Studland Heath - just not the right sort  ...but I'll keep an eye out (when do they appear?) |
Posted By: AGILIS
Date Posted: 14 Jun 2014 at 9:44am
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Hi Will when herping on Studland you can get mistaken for a phallus watcher when creeping around the bushes that why I go to the lesser visited spots Keith ------------- LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
Posted By: Suzy
Date Posted: 14 Jun 2014 at 10:38pm
This orchid is in a pot in my garden. It lives in the greenhouse over winter. The orchid was given to me over ten years ago by an old man, a gardener, and labelled 'wild orchid'. I keep it in the same pot and add new compost occasionally. I think it's beautiful. Any ideas on name? ------------- Suz |
Posted By: will
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2014 at 5:35pm
I went to a local 'brownfield' site with a good common lizard population today; as it turned out, it was too cold for lizards but I was pleased to see what I think are three species of orchid - namely bee, common spotted and pyramidal - please let me know if I am right, Ben, or am I barking up the wrong orchid??    |
Posted By: will
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2014 at 5:36pm
| (common spotted being the last one in the series) |
Posted By: Liz Heard
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2014 at 6:45pm
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Hi folks, sorry for taking so long to get back to you! I've not been home much lately, so no internet. Hi Suz, i'm not sure what 'wild orchid' you've received and it's hard to see much detail from your image, but if i assume (always dangerous i know!) that it is a UK native species local to your area, and taking note of the fact that this is an orchid with dense purple inflorescences that likes it rich, Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa suggests itself. However, another possibility might be Early Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata subspecies pulchella. Just to embuggerate things further, the two can hybridise. Will, similarly with your 'Common Spotted'. They are very variable and hard to be sure from your pic (eg no shot of leaves) but D fuchsii is very common and looks likely. On a more definite note, the other two you posted are very distinctive and yes, agree, are Bee Orchid/Pyramidal. Nice pics.Not an orchid but here's a beautiful and impressive plant i encounter just now and then and i'm always thrilled when i do. From the Potato family: http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/049_zps5d9e4fbc.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/051_zpsc27c3b7f.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  Deadly Nightshade Atropa belladonna Deadly poisonous!!!! cheers |
Posted By: will
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2014 at 7:41pm
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thanks Ben - I should have snapped a photo of the leaves, too - elementary non-botanist's mistake! Love that word 'embuggerate', too!
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Posted By: Robert V
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2014 at 4:05pm
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Hi Ben, here's another to follow on to Will's post... This last Monday - is this early? Cheers  ------------- RobV |
Posted By: Liz Heard
Date Posted: 24 Jul 2014 at 5:00pm
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Hi Rob I've seen quite a few Stink horns (and a few other common fungi species like Sulphur Tuft and Boletus) springing up over the past few weeks. They are about! Here's a shot of the early and harder to spot (said to be edible but i haven't tried it) 'egg' phase of Stink horn. Not in situ: http://s935.photobucket.com/user/benrigsby/media/009_zps13684321.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  |