John and Gerry's    Orchids of Britain and Europe
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Southern England


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

    Notable Species :-
             
Anacamptis laxiflora
                    Cephalanthera damasonium
                    Cphalanthera longifolia
                    Cephalanthera rubra                  
                    Dactylorhiza viridis
                    Dactylorhiza praetermissa
                    Dactylorhiza pulchella
                    Epipactis leptochila
                    Epipactis phyllanthes
                    Epipactis purpurea          
                   
Hammarbaya paludosa
                    Herinium monorchis
                    Himantoglossum hircinum
                    Neotinea ustulata
                   
Ophrys fuciflora
                    Ophrys sphegodes
                    Orchis anthropophora       
                   
Orchis militaris                  
                    Orchis purpurea
                    Orchis simia
                                       
          
                   

                              Ophrys fuciflora

                                  Ophrys sphegodes
                                  Orchis militaris
                                 Herminium monorchis
                                     Orchis simia


Areas of interest


Southern England has a significantly larger orchid species list than any other equivalent region of Great Britain, despite a generally less varied landscape and greater population pressures. This considerable species list is due in no small part to the extensive tracts of chalk and limestone which stretch in almost unbroken bands from Kent in the east to Somerset in the west. In the west the limestone is less widespread and large areas of acidic heath such as Dartmoor and Exmoor become more prevalent. Dorset possesses and protects some of the finest and last remaining lowland heath in the country.

The far west generally is not orchid rich though the south east coast of Cornwall did once achieve some notoriety as the site of a small colony of Serapias parviflora. They do however seem to have died out which perhaps supports the view that their appearance in Cornwall was not entirely a natural occurrence anyway. Devon has at its core the brooding bulk of Dartmoor, but outcrops of limestone such as Berry Head and Beer Head on the south coast support an interesting flora  including several species of orchid. The most noted orchid haven is however on the north coast and this is the vast sand dune system of Braunton Burrows, once the home to Liparis loselii but sadly not recorded here since 1987. The dunes do however offer many Dactylorhiza group species including D. pulchella, very much as across the Bristol Channel in the dunes of South Wales.


Somerset is largely devoid of any significant limestone with the exception of some outcrops along the north coast and small patches in the south east corner of the county. This latter area does however host a very interesting plant, not a pure species but a hybrid that is known from only a very few sites in the UK and is generally rare in Europe as a whole. This is Ophrys x  pietzschii (pictured opposite), a cross between Ophrys apifera and O. insectifera which exists precariously on a road side verge of the main A303.

Dorset is the south western boundary of significant alkalinity, where a broad tongue of chalk runs north east through the county as far as Buckinghamshire. A similar belt runs due east and forms the Purbeck Hills along the south coast as far as Old Harry Rocks at Poole. The former region is rich in orchids with a site near Wimborne at Badbury Rings hosting eleven species and the downs around Salisbury (in Wiltshire) home to perhaps the best populations of Neotinea ustulata in the country. The Purbecks boasts one of Great Britains rarities, Ophrys sphegodes which can be found sparingly along the sea cliffs overlooking the English Channel, as depicted in the photograph at the head of this page. The Arne is a large area of lowland heath around Poole Harbour and supports a good range of orchid species including Hammarbaya paludosa, Dactylorhiza pulchella, Dactylorhiza incarnata,
Gymnadenia borealis and Epipactis palustris.

The ancient New Forest which lies in both Hampshire and Dorset is another tract of lowland heath which as well as the plants listed above, possesses species which are less acid loving such as Platanthera bifolia, Ophrys apifera, Anacamptis morio and Spiranthes spiralis. Hampshire together with Surrey are both counties with a rich flora, the former being especially noted for Herminium monorchis and Cephalanthera longifolia and the latter Orchis anthropophora.


Kent is arguably the foremost county in the country as far as its species list is concerned, hosting several of Great Britain's real rarities. These include the Late Spider Orchid, Ophrys fuciflora which can be found at a few protected sites, though always in small numbers, Orchis simia, again in small numbers and finally Orchis purpurea which is scarce but more firmly established than the previous two. The sand dunes near Sandwich golf course are well known as the site of a colony of Himantoglossum hircinum which unlike some populations elsewhere in the UK seem self sustaining
and have appeared in large numbers reliably for many years now. Kent has an enviable number of Nature Reserves spread across the county and these protect most of the special species which as well as the orchids mentioned above include Ophrys sphegodes (Samphire Hoe near Folkestone), Herminium monorchis  and Orchis anthropophora (both at Wye Downs  near Ashford).

To the north west of Kent are the Chilterns which take in the counties of Berkshire, south Oxfordshire and south Buckinghamshire. This is another orchid rich region whose species list includes Orchis purpurea (not thought to be naturally occurring), Orchis simia, Epipactis leptochila, Epipactis purpurata and Epipactis phyllanthes. The really special orchid here is however Orchis militaris which can be found at a tiny handful of sites where it is heavily protected. Thought to be extinct in Great Britain it was happily rediscovered in 1947 and has been the subject of intensive nurture and study ever since.

The broad leaved woodland of the Buckinghamshire Chilterns were of course the last known site of the elusive Ghost Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) before it was formally declared extinct in 2005. As with Military Orchid, the species has now been rediscovered, albeit in Herefordshire and its to be hoped that one day this enigmatic little orchid can be seen again in this part of Southern England.

Although as Crown Dependencies they are not officially part of England at all, the Channel Islands do contribute a further species that cannot be found in the UK proper and that is Anacamptis laxiflora, otherwise known as the Jersey Lilly !