Take time to notice colourful pyramidal orchids rising from chalk grasslands this month
CHALK GRASSLANDS, THE MOST floriferous habitats in Britain and Ireland, start to look their glorious best in June. There can sometimes be three dozen kinds of wildflower and grass in a single square metre of crumbly, nutrient-poor soil, which in turn attracts a great diversity of insect life.
Orchids abound, including the hot-pink pyramidal orchid, arguably the brightest member of its famously colourful family. This species has distinctly pointed, coneshaped flower spikes, especially in fresher specimens early in the season. As the many individual flowers in each spike open, the plants become more elongated or rounded, making them harder to tell apart from several other chalk-loving orchid species, though their luscious colour remains. Pyramidal orchids also thrive in limestone areas. Sadly, as is so often the case, they have vanished from lots of places where they were once common due to changes in how grasslands are grazed and cut.
But you can still find masses of these beautiful orchids carpeting nature reserves and downs that are not grazed too intensively, and they often flourish in the short turf of clifftops and even among sand dunes.
Natural Histories
The story of our relationship with orchids