Windmill Farm is a good place to look for Green-winged Orchids.
Photo: Steve Townsend
Latin name: Anacamptis morio
Other names: Fool Stones, Green-veined Orchid
Conservation status: IUCN – not evaluated; protected under CITES
What to look for:
- Flowers: Three-lobed, pink or purple. The helmet of sepals above the flower have green stripes
- Leaves: Lanceolate, and unspotted (unlike some other similar orchid species)
- Height: 10 to 30 cm
- Where: Damp meadows, roadsides, heath
- When: Flowers May to June (often earlier on the Lizard)
- Habit: Single spikes
Superficially, this threatened orchid species looks a little like the Early-purple Orchid that can also be found on The Lizard, but can be distinguished by its lack of spotting on the leaves, and the helmet-shape of the three sepals (see photograph), with their strong green stripes. It flowers in May and June.
The Green-winged Orchid, found mainly in damp meadows and sometimes heath and roadsides, was previously more common in Britain than it is now. Like many of our wildflowers, it prefers a nutrient-poor soil, and agricultural intensification has taken its toll on its distribution and population size, as has habitat loss.
Did you know…?
…the jester-like shape of the flower gives it its species name of morio, which is the Greek word for ‘fool’ or ‘jester’
…it does not produce nectar: pollination is by insects attracted visually by the flowers, rather than by smell
More information and references:
Rose, F. and O’Reilly, C., 2006. The Wild Flower Key, 2nd edition. Frederick Warne, London.
Stace, C., 2010. New Flora of the British Isles, third edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Published: May 2013 (updated April 2014)
Author: Amanda Scott
Photos: Steve Townsend (top); Amanda Scott (flower detail)