Early-purple Orchid - Orchis mascula

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Alternative names
Early Purple Orchid
Description

Grows to 60 cm and has 3 to 5 narrow-oblong basal leaves, often with purple blotches. The stem is often purplish with several sheathing leaves in the lower half. Flowers purple with an unpleasant smell, the lateral sepals spreading upwards like ‘wings’, the upper sepal and petals forming a hood.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Deciduous woodland, Dunes etc.

When to see it

April to June.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Widespread throughout most of Britain, and can be locally frequent.

VC55 Status

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 30 of the 617 tetrads.

  • Peter Smith
    Launde Park Wood
    19 May 2013
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    04 May 2015
  • Graham Calow
    Narborough Bog
    27 April 2017
  • steven lewis
    clipsham park wood
    12 May 2017
  • Adrian Baker
    Elmesthorpe Plantation
    14 April 2017
  • Peter Smith
    Cloud Wood
    20 May 2012
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    04 May 2015
  • David Gould
    Narborough Bog, Leics
    09 May 2016
  • AJ Cann
    Cloud Wood
    31 May 2015
  • AJ Cann
    Launde Park Wood
    15 April 2017
  • Graham Calow
    Elmesthorpe Plantation, Burbage
    24 May 2018

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species data profile ?

Species profile

Common names
Early-purple Orchid
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Asparagales
Family:
Orchidaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
55
First record:
20/05/2012 (Smith, Peter)
Last record:
07/05/2024 (Baker, Adrian)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records

  • Steve Mathers
    Narborough Bog
    04 May 2017
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    04 May 2015
  • AJ Cann
    Cloud Wood
    19 April 2015
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    04 May 2015
  • Peter Smith
    Cloud Wood
    20 May 2012
  • AJ Cann
    Priors Coppice
    15 May 2016
  • Bill Piper
    Cloud Wood
    22 April 2016
  • Adrian Baker
    Elmesthorpe Plantation
    16 May 2016
  • Graham Calow
    Narborough Bog
    27 April 2017
  • AJ Cann
    Launde Park Wood
    15 April 2017
  • AJ Cann
    Launde Park Wood
    15 April 2017
  • martindgrimes
    Clipsham Park Wood
    20 April 2017
  • David Gould
    Narborough Bog, Leics
    09 May 2016
  • toby_cg
    Moor Leys Lane
    10 May 2021