We went back to Warburg most years and probably it was the warden there who told us about the rare southern marsh orchids at Moor End. We added them to our seasonal visits. A resident later told us that their presence was due to a patch of marshy acidic soil, different from the rest of the Chiltern chalk. Many of them are hybridised with common spotted orchids, but this one is guaranteed pure – there is another picture of the same plant with all its unspotted leaves.
Author: S Tripp