Cleeve Common SSSI is a beautiful orchid hunting spot. This year the Musk orchid has put on an extraordinary show. Most years it is possible to find maybe 30, 50 maybe 100 plants in a good year. This year there are thousands of them, it is a very pleasing sight, the whole hillside is covered in them. They are tiny, delicate, beautiful flowers. I have seen them before at Noar Hill, where I found around 20 plants. At Cleeve they are growing with Pyramidal, Bee and Frog.
Cleeve Common Musks
So why are they having a bumper year? Do they like a lot of rain, even though they grow on very free-draining slopes? Do they benefit from a mild winter? Have they been there but not flowering for many years or are these young plants, 5-6 years on from a particularly good year for seed setting? I don’t have any answers but I also saw at least 2 dozen Frogs, which is more than I’ve found in one place before, so the management at Cleeve is working a treat.
The Small white orchid is scarce in the UK. Pseudorchis albida is found in Scotland, Northern England and Ireland. It is extinct in Southern England and one small isolated colony is hanging on in Wales – which is close enough for a day trip.
It’s less than 20cm tall, the flowers are 2-4mm across. The sepals are cream coloured and the petals and lip are yellowish green. It is usually found on acid soil in the uplands. It flowers late May – June and is difficult to spot.
Sites have declined drastically since 1970s. A lot of heathland has been lost in that time to drainage, forestry, agriculture and development and climate change will be adding further pressure in the more southerly sites. It may soon be restricted to Scotland and Ireland. it became extinct in my home county of Herefordshire in the 19th century. It has Schedule 8 protection in N Ireland but is only classified as Vulnerable in the rest of the UK. It is surely a candidate for greater protection.
Heath fragrant orchids
The Small white site in Wales also has a large number of Heath Fragrant orchids. There are several ways to tell the 3 fragrant species apart, though I still don’t feel confident about them. Heath fragrant is the shortest, up to 30cm. The flower spike is short and densely packed. the difference in habitat is fairly clear. The shape of the lip is subtle. The difference in scent is beyond me completely. Usually the habitat would be reliable. Acid heathland – Heath. Dry chalk and limestone grassland – Chalk. Damp meadows and fens – Marsh. However in Herefordshire our most well known fragrant site is a wet calcareous grassland/ fen and the species there is Chalk. They have their roots in water, what can I say?
Heath spotted orchid
It was good to see a huge population of Wood bitter vetch Vicia orobus on this reserve. It’s hanging on at 2 sites in Herefordshire and is in steep decline in the UK. There are now efforts being made to bring it back from the brink my home county and Plantlife is working on it in other parts of the UK.
