Early Purple Orchid - a photo on Flickriver

            Early Purple Orchid / orchis mascula. Barnack Hills and Hollows, Cambridgeshire. 11/05/17.

I made this image in Spring 2017 at a location I had visited for the first time - when life was 'normal', without the restrictions we live by at present.

Early Purple Orchids were well distributed over the whole site, either as individual spikes or in small groups. Typically their colour was variable, ranging from deep pink through to deep purple, like this one.

BEST VIEWED LARGE.

Taken on: May 11, 2017

Tags:

early purple orchid

orchis mascula

cambridgeshire

SSSI reserve

wildflower

orchid

widespread

declining distribution

locally abundant

calcareous grassland

deciduous woodland

coppices

hedgerows

one of earliest flowering orchids

cone shaped flower cluster

20-50 individual flowers

densely clustered

variable colouring

deep pink-dark purple

pale pink + white forms

3-lobed, convex labellum

crenulated margins

tiny purple-brown spots

rosette of leaves at base

narrow, glossy leaves

purple-black blotches

stem green at bottom

stem purple midway upwards

20-40cms tall

flowers April-June

sun + shade tolerant

unpleasant smell with age

springtime

old medieval quarry

limestone rock

short grass

bankside

single flower spike

deep purple specimen

low PoV

macro

bokeh « less

Sets appears in: • Upload to flickr • Flora

Groups appears in: • Britain's Orchids • Wildlife Of Great Britain and Ireland. more » • Countryfile • Wildlife UK • BBC Springwatch (Official) • WILD BRITAIN. • Plantlife Bloomwatch: UK Wild flowers & other native flora • Wild life photography bokeh • Blumen, Blumen, Blumen ... Flower, Flower, Flower ... • Plants, Lichen and Fungi UK • British Wild Flowers through the seasons • Barnack Hills + Holes • British Isles Flora and Fauna • Birds and nature of the uk • British Wild Flower Group • Britain's Native Wildflowers « less

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