Click image to view

Previous Next

Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid

Reference: FF49
Location: Cothill NNR, Oxfordshire
Gallery: Flowers (mainly Orchids),

A trip to Oxfordshire for my 34th Orchid in Britain. A nationally scarce species restricted to alkaline chalk fens like at Cothill in Oxfordshire. There is some debate about whether this particular orchid is a separate species although it is subtly different from the closely related Southern Marsh Orchid. It has a smaller looser head and narrower leaves than Southern Marsh Orchid with which it does hybridise although it is possible to find many individuals which look identical to specimens found in the north of its range where Southern Marsh Orchid is absent.