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Greater Butterfly-orchid

Platanthera chlorantha

A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

How to Identify:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialPerennial
HeightUp to 60cm high
Flower typeAlong the rather loose flower spike are 10-40 greenish-white flowers with a long, narrow undivided flower lip and long spur to the rear of the flower
LeavesTwo shiny leaves at the base of the plant are 5-15cm long, with further smaller leaves higher up the stem

 

Butterfly orchid differences.

How to Spot Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

You’re most likely to find Greater Butterfly-orchid on old or recently restored hay meadows, particularly on well drained calcareous soils. You can also find them on pastures, open scrub and woodland.

They look very similar to their close cousins the Lesser Butterfly-orchid but have slightly larger flowers that are green tinged rather than pure white. You can also look for the pollen bearing structures on their petals called pollinia. These sacs of pollen are V shaped on the Greater Butterfly-orchid but parallel shaped on the Lesser Butterfly-orchid.

Where to Find Greater Butterfly-orchid

This is found across Britain particularly in the south. It’s has steadily declined across the UK over the past 100 years. The reasons are varied but in woodlands where they need dappled sunlight, they have suffered from conifer plantation planting and changes to traditional woodland management.

In grasslands, farming changes, such as too much or too little grazing, or early hay cutting before the plant has chance to flower and set seed, have had a particularly negative effect. The use of chemical fertilizers have also disrupted the delicate soil fungal network that orchids rely on for survival.

Plantlife owns and manages two reserves in Wales that are rich in Greater Butterfly-orchid – Caeau Tan y Bwlch on the Llŷn peninsula in the north, and Cae Blaen-dyffryn above Lampeter in mid Wales. The latter also contains Lesser Butterfly-orchid, so giving you a great opportunity to see the subtle differences between these two beautiful orchid species.

Carolyn Thomas MS, is currently working with us as a Species Champion to raise awareness of Greater Butterfly-orchid and its causes of decline. Find out more about Species and Nature Champions here.

Facts About Greater Butterfly-orchid

  • At night, they exude a vanilla like scent to attract pollinating moths particularly owlet moths and hawkmoths.
  • The moths’ long proboscis and eye placement are crucial for successful pollination, as they need to reach the nectar deep within the flower’s spur. Pollen is usually deposited onto their eyes.
  • This eye-attachment method of pollination has been found to be very effective, with a high percentage of flowers setting seed.
  • The vanilla flower scent can be smelt inside the mature brown seedpod.
  • If you stick a small pencil into the flower, the pollen bearing pollinia will likely stick to the pencil, and if you look closely, they will gradually rise up.
  • Greater Butterfly-orchid can establish within 3-4 years on restored hay meadows that have received green hay from another orchid-rich meadow.

Other Species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

Citrine Waxcap

Hygrocybe citrinovirens

Citrine Waxcap, Hygrocybe citrinovirens

How to Identify Citrine Waxcap

CapPale lemon, sometimes green-tinged yellow, up to 10cm in diameter. Often splits as the fruit body matures. Quite dry in texture.
GillsWhite, turning pale yellow with age. Widely spaced.
StemSimilar in colour to the cap, sometimes fibrous in texture.
SporesWhite

 

Citrine Waxcap, Hygrocybe citrinovirens

Where to find them?

Find these distinctive waxcaps in low-nutrient grassland habitats – they are equally at home in upland sheep-grazed pastures as they are in urban cemeteries with mown grass.

Don’t mistake it with

There are several other species of yellow waxcaps in the UK – keep an eye out for the light yellow or almost green tinge of this species.

Things you might not know

The Latin name “citrinovirens” comes from “citrinus” meaning lemon yellow, and “virens”, meaning green!

These are both good descriptions of the colour of this waxcap species.

Other species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

Lady’s-slipper

Cypripedium calceolus

How to Identify Lady’s-slipper

Annual/Perennial/BiennialPerennial
HeightUp to 60cm
Flower type1 – 2 flowers per stem
Leaves Large (up to 20cm), broad and ridged, bright green leaves that sheath the stem
FamilyOrchidaceae

 

How to Spot Lady’s-slipper?

The best time to see Lady’s-slipper in bloom is the springtime, between May and June. However, they are not a flower that youre likely to come across on your morning walk. Once widespread across Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, Lady’s-slipper suffered severe losses as a result of over-collecting and habitat loss. By 1917 it was thought to be extinct in the wild. 

Over the last few years, we’ve been working with partners Natural England, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the National Trust and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) on a project led by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, to bring the plant back from the brink. 

Read the full story here.

Where to Spot Lady’s-slipper?

For years there was just one single Lady’s-slipper in the wild in the UK, and its location remains a closely guarded secret. 

Today, a number of the plants are flourishing in the wild and there is once again the chance for the public to witness these wonderful wildflowers in their natural habitat. 

For a chance to see the orchid, you can visit Kilnsey Park near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales in late May and early June. You can find more information here.

Facts about Lady’s-slipper

  • Did you know that Charles Darwin’s study of orchids, including Lady’s-slipper, is said to have led to his famous theory of natural selection?
  • Lady’s-slipper was a life-long mystery that Charles Darwin couldn’t solve! Darwin tried to propagate a number of orchid species to help prove his theory of adaptions in nature, but he could never figure out how to propagate Lady’s-slipper. It wasn’t until the 1990s, more than a century after Darwin’s death, that researchers solved the mystery. It was found that Lady’s-slipper could reproduce asexually by producing clones of the parent plant, through underground branching stems.
  • The Lady’s-slipper tricks insects into pollination. It doesn’t have any nectar to entice pollinators, so instead produces a honey-like smell to trick them into thinking it does. When the insect enters the plant, downward facing hairs, force it through a small hole, where it brushes off pollen from other plants, pollinating the flower. 

Photo shows Lady’s-slipper seed pod – all photos taken by Kevin Walker

Other Species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

Scrambled Egg Lichen

Fulgensia fulgens

Scrambled Egg Lichen

This rare lichen is not just striking, but also a crucial part of the biological soil crust community which stabilises soils and facilitates the growth of other plants. It also hosts a globally rare fungus Lichenochora epifulgens which is even rarer than the Scrambled Egg lichen itself.

Where it grows

It grows on open short calcareous grasslands and dunes. It needs an open, well-lit, free draining substrate such as limestone, chalk or sand made from shells, with a high pH. Most often it grows over mosses or sometime directly on rock, at coastal sites in the south and west of Britain.

How to spot

As the name suggests, it really does look like a scrambled egg. It has a crust-like yellow body which is often paler in the middle with scattered orange fruits of 1.5mm.

Dave Lamacraft translocating Scrambled Egg Lichen in Norfolk

Did you know?

It is historically rare in Britain and had gone extinct in the east of England due to habitat loss as a result of changes in farming practices, an increase in tree cover and a loss of rabbits.

We are working to bring it back to the Breckland through a process known as translocation. Read how expert Dave Lamacraft translocated the Scrambled Egg Lichen, taking it 350 miles, and transplanted it using bookbinding glue!

 

Other species

Scrambled Egg Lichen
Scrambled Egg Lichen

Scrambled Egg Lichen

Oak Moss Lichen
with little tiny branches almost like a a lot of green tiny deer antlers

Oak Moss Lichen

Evernia prunastri
Fanfare of Trumpets Lichen

Fanfare of Trumpets Lichen

Ramalina fastigiata 

Winter Aconite

Eranthis hyemalis

Pretty yellow Winter Aconite flowers site on a woodland floor. The bright yellow blooms stand out again a floor covered in fallen leaves.

How to Identify Winter Aconite:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialPerennial
Height15cm
Flower typeSingle flowers with 6 petals
LeavesLeaves spread from central point and are split into many sections
StemsGreen stem

 

Pretty yellow Winter Aconite flowers site on a woodland floor. The bright yellow blooms stand out again a floor covered in fallen leaves.

How to Spot Winter Aconite

Winter Aconite is an easy one to keep an eye out for, as it has beautiful bright yellow flowers that help it stand out. Keep your eyes on the ground as it’s a small plant, that grows up to 15cm.

Underneath its pretty flower, it has a whorl of leaf-like bracts that a form a ruffly collar.

Where to Spot Winter Aconite

This pretty plant is especially common in the east of England, and can be found in parks and woodlands.

Winter Aconite however is not a native wildflower. It was introduced in the 16th century as a garden plant. Now centuries later, it is considered naturalised.

Facts About Winter Aconite

Winter Aconite has a number of different nicknames. In some regions, the pretty yellow flowers have been nicknamed ‘choirboys’. It’s said that the name came from the ruffle of leaves that surround the flower head. In other regions, they have been known as ‘Christmas-rose’ or ‘New Year’s Gift’, owing to their mid-winter appearance.

Other Species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

Chicken of the woods

Laetiporus sulphureus

Chicken of the Woods

How to identify:

BracketsThe fungus is comprised of several  overlapping brackets 
GillsThis bracket fungus does not have gills  
StemIt has no stem
FleshThick yellow-orange flesh which darkens with age. The underside of the brackets have yellow pores, which is the spore-forming surface of the fungus  
SporesWhite

 

Where to find them?

This fungus is a common find in woodlands across the UK. They are found mainly on deciduous trees, for example oak, sweet chestnut and beech. Often they are quite high up on the tree trunk, so its worth casting your eyes upwards!  

Did you know?

The flesh of this bracket fungus has a texture similar to cooked chicken, hence the common name!  

Don’t mistake it with…

The Giant polypore (Meripilus gigantus) can form similar bracket structures. However, the underside of Giant polypore turns black when damaged, which cannot be seen in Chicken of the Woods. 

Other Species

Sulphur tuft

Hypholoma fasciculare

Bright Sulphur tuft fungus under a tree in autumn

How to identify:

CapYellow-orange, often with a darker centre 
Cap Diameter2cm – 7cm
GillsYellow, becoming sulphurous-green to black as the fruit body ages 
Stem Yellow, darker towards the base 
FleshCream to yellow
SporesBrown 

 

Where to find them?

This fungus grows in dense clusters on dead or dying wood, and can be found on deciduous or conifer trees.  

Don’t mistake it with

The Brick Tuft (Hypholoma lateritium) is very similar, but typically has a darker reddish cap, and its gills are more yellow rather than the green-ish tinge of Sulphur tuft gills. 

Did you know?

Sulphur tufts are bioluminescent, that is they glow in the dark! They don’t glow strongly, so the effect is best seen using a long camera exposure, or by shining the fruit bodies with a UV light.  

 

 

Other Species

Sweet Vernal Grass

Anthoxanthum oderatum

A close up photograph of Sweet Vernal Grass
Sweet Vernal Grass in the sunshine

How to spot

Thin, wiry grass with short leaves and a spike of flowers at the top of the stem. Where the leaf meets the stem, there is a fringe of hairs which look like eyelashes.

Where to spot

On old meadows and grasslands that are often rich in wild flowers. Here, it’s one of the first meadow grasses to come into flower in the spring.

Don’t mistake it with

Red Fescue – another grass with a narrow stem and pointy flower spikes, but which is bigger and lacks the scent.

Sweet Vernal grass

Things you might not know

It gives out a scent that is THE distinctive smell of a hay meadow – somewhere between vanilla and almond. Some people like to chew the grass to get the taste of the scent.

Other Species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort

Field Pansy

Viola arvensis

Field Pansy is a delicate flower from the Violet family, and is the wild relative of the Garden Pansy. It’s a small low-growing perennial which can be easily confused with the Wild Pansy, however it has much smaller flowers. It is self-fertile and attracts butterflies such as the Queen of Spain Fritillary which will lay its eggs on the plant.

How to spot it

The flowers of Field Pansy are solitary and 15mm across. They have creamy yellow petals which are sometimes bluish-violet. Its sepals are pointed, and often longer than or the same length as the petals. Its stipules look like lobed leaves, and the leaves are oblong in shape. The plant grows up to 20cm tall.

Where to spot it

While Field Pansy can be found throughout the UK, it is more common in the East half of the UK and SE Ireland. It’s most commonly found in dry arable field margins and waste spaces.

Things you might not know

  • Pansies take their name from the French ‘pensee’ meaning thought.
  • Field Pansy’s flowers are edible and the leaves and flowers are rich in vitamins A and C.

Other Species

Greater Butterfly-orchid
A greater butterfly orchid in a meadow

Greater Butterfly-orchid

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort
A close up of the top of a Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort flower head, the pretty white petals stand out against a background of grasses

Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort