Orchids
Orchid Family - Orchidaceae
Autumn Lady's-tresses Spiranthes spiralisNative. Frequent in short turf on the inhabited islands, sometimes forming extensive colonies but not flowering some years. Flowers August to September. Flowers and flower spike minutely glandular-hairy. Lower lip broadly rounded at the tip. Small rosettes of 4-5 leaves appear with or just after the flower spikes, the leaves having the typical parallel veins of most orchid species.
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Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa
Native. Confined to the two main wetland areas on Higher and Lower Moors, St Mary's. Flowers June to July. Typical plants are identified by the three-lobed labellum, with the central lobe small and often indistinct and the side lobes broadly rounded and often turned up at the edges. Leaves unmarked or sometimes heavily blotched with rounded spots; stem leaves often with a slightly keeled tip.
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Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis
Native. Rare. A colony became established on Samson in perhaps the 1980s and was first officially recorded in 1997. Flowers May to July. A showy species, with rich, rose-pink flowers which sometimes have paler centres or may rarely be all white. Flower spikes are broadly pyramidal as the flowers start to open at the base, becoming more rounded over time and resembling the shape of an old bee skep.
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Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Native. Once recorded from Tresco in 1969 but not seen since. Flowers June to August. Typical plants are readily identified by the clearly three-lobed labellum, with the central lobe relatively large and the side lobes having distinctly squared corners. Leaves lightly to quite heavily blotched with angular spots.
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