Heath spotted orchid. @ Margery Thomas
Pale pink spires of the heath spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata are easily seen in and around the main bogs boardwalk, on the left as you walk down from the Cade Road car park. Alex Lockton records that, being more restricted to bogs and acid grassland it is considered an axiophyte of these habitats. Sarah Raven describes the flowers as ‘blackcurrant ice cream doing a can-can, chunky, frilly,’ with lobed lower petals covered in darker pink/purple squiggles. On the slopes it grows tallest in the shelter of young bracken, in a flowery mead of tormentil, white clover, honeysuckle, grasses and sedges, heath bedstraw and milkwort, and speedwell, with rosettes of devils’ bit scabious leaves and young ragwort, soft seedling birch and oak, alive with crickets and backed by banks of young ling. The twittering young birds and the rustling aspens in the bird sanctuary add to the magic.
In the bog it grows on hummocks and the sphagnum moss, not in the water, its companions bog asphodel, bog cotton, water buttercup, lousewort, tormentil always, ragged robin, cross-leaved heath, bog pimpernel round-leaved sundew and marsh thistle. An airy floral display that belies the tenacity of plants adapted to difficult conditions. More magic as a pair of male and female broad bodied chaser dragonflies dance over a bog pool.
Southern marsh orchid . @Ian Rickards
The tall purple spikes of Southern marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa are less visible to walkers but Alex Lockton records it as ‘abundant in the lush growth of bog 4 though rare in other bogs; it is typical of marshy grassland and fens. A few plants of the hybrid of these two orchids also occurs in the bog closest to Lakeside, but it can be difficult to find amongst the swarm of rather variable Southern Marsh orchids.’ Neither species produces nectar but both are pollinated by insects including bees, attracted by patterns visible to their ultraviolet vision as well as the patterns humans perceive.
Margery Thomas
I continue to enjoy and learn from Margery’s monthly articles and am forever grateful for her wonderful writing skills and endless enthusiasm. A huge thank-you from myself, Kent Wildlife Trust, and the rest of the readership.Ian Rickards, Area Manager
A huge thank you to Margery for her efforts, time, and dedication to Hothfield Heathlands over the past decade.
Below you can read Margery's very first article for KWT, written in March 2016!
I so enjoy reading Margery's articles every month. Her detailed observational writing and technical knowledge brings me joy and new understanding! To have written 100 articles - and to have volunteered for the Trust for more than 10 years - is just brilliant, and we are hugely grateful.Rosie Parry-Thomson, Marketing Officer
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Long-time volunteer Margery Thomas explores the wildlife at Hothfield Heathlands in February, where reedmace tells a story...
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