Epipactis Mixture on 27th July 2016

"Variagated Helliborine" (Broad Leaved Helliborine) found on Hutton Roof (Cumbria Wildlife Reserve) - Click over photo to enlarge

This little beauty is now in flower on Hutton Roof (Click over to enlarge)

It was lovely meeting up with Dave who had travelled all the way up from Kent to check out our rarer Hutton Roof orchids on the Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserve.

Been watching this one now for the past couple of years and it's great to see it in flower at last. Still not the strongest specimen but doing OK.  There is yet another one closeby but this one is even more fragile!

This is the full flower of the plant shown above  (Click over to enlarge)

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Our light colour Broad Leaved Helliborines (not viridiflora) is doing very well today and here is a current photo of how it was showing this morning.

One of our Light Coloured Helliborines on HR (Click over to enlarge)

Its a lovely plant and we still have a couple more of them closeby, but looking at them I do have a strong feeling they may not make it.  They seem very weak at the moment.  Sadly the best specimen has been nipped off with the local deer.

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My Variagated Helliborine is doing well and now more flowers have come out. I was trying to get a photo today which also gives good clarity but failed however these two do give you a idea of the variagation both on the leaves and more impressive the ovaries and bracts. 

Variagated Helliborine Specimen (Click over to enlarge)

 Variagated Helliborine Specimen showing heavily marked ovary and bracts

(Click over to enlarge)

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The last Lemon Petalled of the Year photographed today (Click over to enlarge)

I just managed to find the last one for Dave to check out.  The only reason this one was about is that it was hiding under close canopy slightly slowing it down.  Smothered close with some stonking mature helliborines!  yes helliborines, I guess it does make you wonder!

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To finish off the day I found another strange beauty lurking in the bushes, but now I know where he his I will certainly be keeping a eye on him - Quick glances showed its going to be a very light specimen with lots of white in the flower, small leaves in place of bracks - so so so unusual, very deep green colour which usually results in lighter flowers, mega size rounded leaves

Small Leaves at the area where the bracts should be - (Click over to enlarge)

 Very large leaves spiralling up the stem (Click over to enlarge)

The full plant in situ - A super speciman (Click over to enlarge)