The Search for Bog Orchids, Cornwall, August 2022

 I've always mis-timed looking for this tiny wild orchid in the past, mostly as my holidays were to areas where they may have been being at the wrong time. So I hoped to put that right now that I live in an area where they can be found. I searched a few venues nearby with historical records but failed to find them, which is not surprising given that they are light green growing amongst similar coloured plants and sphagnum mosses in inaccessible boggy areas. Given my lack of success, I turned to the Cornwall Botany Group and joined a field trip to Bodmin Moor to hopefully find some under guidance from the County Recorder and other experienced botanists. They are a very friendly group and I would advise any budding botanist to join their local group to benefit from their experience and knowledge.

 We parked our cars on a lay-by of a tiny lane in the middle of nowhere, by a stream. Being botanists, it took a while to move away from the cars as there are always interesting plants to see wherever one stops and here was no exception. What initially looked like a small Skullcap plant was in fact the hybrid between Lesser Skullcap and Skullcap. This was a first for many of us and the botanists bible Stace 4 was consulted, measurements taken and agreement reached that this was the hybrid plant.

Scutellaria galericulata x minor = S. x hybrida

 

I often find it useful to make notes on a composite image as below, it saves looking it all up again if one finds a similar plant in the future.

Nearby were patches of Ivy-leaved Bellflower, a cute plant with ivy shaped leaves and tiny bright blue flowers.

Wahlenbergia hederacea

 

 

With many boggy areas in Cornwall, it is easy to forget that it is in fact a rare and declining habitat in England, with many bogs drained and turned over to intensive agriculture. Yet there are so many amazing plants within them and no doubt, insects too. It has also recently been scientifically shown that peat bogs absorb more CO2 than a forest does, yet we still destroy  them for agriculture and development. I see no end to it.

One of the attractive bog plants is Marsh St. John's Wort as shown below.

 

Hypericum elodes

It was a hot August day as we carefully made our way through the bog. After a while, we came to a wetter patch and someone called out they'd found a Bog Orchid. There was no rushing to see it in case we trod on an unseen plant. As such, we took turns treading in each other's footsteps to avoid habitat damage and after a while, there it was in all its splendour. After this we found several, culminating in a patch of multiple spikes. Most were between 4-6" tall (15cm) with a few a bit taller in the clump. They were very well camoflagued.

Hammarbya paludosa

Given it was and is a special plant for me to see, I've added several photos below.

You can see how hard it was to spot in the photo below.

A coin for scale

An amazing clump, probably all from the same plant over many years. We found well over 80 spikes in total.

Close up macro photographs were extremely difficult to do as I was always slowly moving as I sunk in the mire (welly boots essential). Add to that, a breeze and wobbly hands and I was amazed I got any half decent photos.

The photo below shows the Sphagnum moss that this orchid is often associated with. It's an identical colour to the orchid and this makes the latter almost invisible as one walks along at a standing height.

I hope I will have another go at taking better photos next year.

Of course there were many other plants to see and we marvelled at them all. I particularly like the carnivorous plants that digest insects to supplement the meagre pickings from bog soils. One of those was Pale Butterwort which has sticky leaves. When an insect lands on them they fold over and digest the unfortunate bug. You can see the leaves folding over below as well as one of its flowers which range from white to pale lilac in colour.

Pinguicula lusitanica

Well, that was another first sighting of a rare plant in Cornwall and there are lots more for me to see over the next few years. Even when you think you have seen them all, another species pops up unexpectedly to keep the interest going. The best thing about botany is the constant surprises and the realisation that the more you learn, the less you know. Until next time, take care.

Dave