British wildflower g.c.survey

Hi Marley Cracking photos ,Cookie Lovely Iris :thumb:

 

Just adding mine from the other thread..
I think this has to be one of my all time favourite wild-flowers.. I can remember field of them as a child.. Known by many names depending on where you live it seems.. Lucy Locket.. Milkmaids.. Ladies Smock.. Cuckoo Flower.. Meadow Cress... Pigeon's Eye.. Mayflower.. Bittercress...
The lilac or white flowers are 1 - 2 cms across with 4 petals. Both the leaves and flowers are edible, a rich source of Vitamin C and can be eaten in salads. They are from the Brassicaceae family also called Cruciferae because the 4 petals of this family form a cross.. Found in damp meadows, verges & hedgerows & is a Herbaceous perennial..


I went on a different walk today & among other things went to see what Orchids I could find to photo.. We are on Limestone around here & the Trench is very damp all year round..





Quote:
The most widespread and common British orchid, the Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) has a preference for chalk and limestone grassland. Its leaves are always dark-spotted but the plant itself may be variable in height..
The flower spikes are 'dense' and the lip is prominently three-lobed. The colour of the flowers is normally dark to light pink with variable patterning on the lip but they normally have one to three purple loops either side of the lip centre line.
Rarely an albino may be found. An albino totally lacks pigmentation and should not be confused with white forms of normally coloured flowers.On normal (and white coloured forms) the pollinia are purple.

 

Also while on the walk I found a couple of these too, tucked away.. I was very excited to see them as I have never seen them in this area before.. The Lesser Butterfly Orchid..






Quote:
Although in decline it is still possible to find large colonies of Lesser Butterfly-orchids in the UK and to enjoy the overwhelming perfume of a mass of these orchids.
The two Butterfly Orchids (Lesser and Greater) are very alike and both are night scented. Different types of insect pollinate them so presumably they smell different although it is impossible for us to detect that. The safest way of telling the two orchids apart is to examine the pollinia - in the Lesser Butterfly-orchid the pollinia are vertical and in the Greater Butterfly-orchid they lean in towards each other at the tops. Both types of Butterfly Orchid can be found on heaths, on the edges of woodland and and on marshy ground.