Lizard orchids are surprisingly large and can be found in the UK
We found the Lizard orchids photographed here in June in northern France where they seemed to be quite common, but they do occur in the UK, where they’re on the Red List. In fact I’ve heard that there’s at least one that grows a few miles up the road from where I live, and flowers from time to time on the grass verge by the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head.
Lizard orchids like to grown on chalk
The Himantoglossum flowers we found in France were all growing near hedgerows. We saw one individual on a raised bank, one individual on flat ground in grass, and a whole host of them on another grassy bank. The area we were in, around Les Andelys and Chateau Gaillard is on chalk.
Lizard orchids are relatively easy to spot because they can grow to a metre or more tall. They are easy to identify by the long trailing lizard tail on each flower.
The flower stem is sturdy and rises from a rosette of long narrow elliptical leaves about 10cm long which have faded by the time the many flowers arrive. The leaves towards the bottom of the flower stem appear to clasp it.
Himantoglossum hircinum flowers
Each white flower is about 1cm across and bears a grey-green hood which has purple stripes on the inside. The bottom lip has tiny white hairs and spotted with purple tufts of hairs. The three bottom lobes are long, twisted, narrow and grey-green, with the central one being much longer than the other two. The central lobe has a forked tip.
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More about Orchids in general
Find out more about Orchids on the Plantlife website