Taken last weekend near the visitor centre at Sutton Bank on the western edge of the North York Moors, there is an area close to the centre where a variety of wild flowers have been seeded.
These are Common Spotted-orchid flowers. The Common spotted-orchid is the most common of all UK orchids and the one you are most likely to see. It grows in many different habitats, including woodland, roadside verges, hedgerows, old quarries, sand dunes and marshes; sometimes so many flowers appear together that they carpet an area with their delicate, pale pink spikes. It is in bloom between June and August.
The Common spotted-orchid gets its name from its leaves, which are green with many purple, oval spots. They form a rosette at ground level before the flower spike appears; narrower leaves sheath the stem. The flowers range from white and pale pink, through to purple, but have distinctive darker pink spots and stripes on their three-lobed lips. The flowers are densely packed in short, cone-shaped clusters.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
I remember several years ago following a footpath in the Chiltern Hills leading across a field from a plantation with a carpet of these - a stunning sight!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
I remember several years ago following a footpath in the Chiltern Hills leading across a field from a plantation with a carpet of these - a stunning sight!
Ian
Thank you both - I was surprised to see these in a place where there were so many people.
Ian