Any wild orchid specialists?

 
I have found an orchid in rough grass which was a mown lawn until two
years ago.  It is pale mauve with mauve spots on the petals.  The leaves
are green with purple spots.  It looks like a common spotted orchid, but
i had assumed that our soil was acidic and the online sources all say
that it likes chalky land.


We had intended to mow that area in August - should we avoid the orchid,
or are they adapted to meadow mowing?


Thanks

Laura




--
Laura Corin

 
Dactylorhiza (marsh and spotted orchids) is a difficult genus. The
species are variable, and hybridise, so identifying plants can be
difficult.

The bottom half of the flower is called the labellum. In Dactylorhiza
this labellum is lobed. In the common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza
fuchsii) the lobes are relatively deep, and roughly equal sized, with
the middle lobe protruding. (I've found a source saying that this is
tolerant of relatively acidic conditions - and I've seen what I think is
that on Millstone Grit.)

The southern marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) has a smaller,
scarcely protruding middle lobe.

Stewart Robert Hinsley

 On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 20:23:13 +0000, Laura Corin


Given your description it is likely that it is the Common Spotted
orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii.  We found ours in the same circumstances
a few years ago and moved them to one of our wildflower areas in the
Autumn.  Ours are now coming to the end of their flowering period
(unlike the Pyramidal orchids which are a few weeks behind), and we
cut the dead flower stalks back during late August or early September,
along with most of the other inhabitants of our wildflower areas.  The
leaf whorls will also die back in due course.

rbel

 On 23/07/2011 21:23, Laura Corin wrote:

Your on-line sources seem very wide of the mark. Dactylorhiza species ,
of which this seems to be one are very happy on acid ground. I have seen
them growing in very peaty environments.

 I'm surprised no-one has mentioned D. maculata ssp. ericetorum (Heath
Spotted Orchid), which is the most common spotted orchid on acidic
soils and the description given by the OP fits this well.  D fuchsii
does indeed occur on acid soils as well, but not as prolifically and
it is largely replaced by the maculata ssp.

As to mowing the meadow, this could be a single plant or first of a
young colony to flower.  All Dactylorhizas are strongly perennial
orchids and by mid August, most will have formed the new tuber for the
ensuing year.   If you must, you can safely mow it during August, but
it might be a good idea to mark the spot and mow around it. By leaving
the flower head and developing seed capsules, you might help found a
new colony.  You will need to be patient though.  The first true leaf
doesn't appear for at least a year and the young plants need a further
3 - 4 years to build up sufficient resources for flowering.