Four in this photo along with a Pyramidal Orchid and Fragrant Evening Primrose
You can easily see how they acquired their scientific name of Himantoglossum hircinum which roughly translates to Goaty Strap-tongue. Well you can see the strap-tongue part. Goaty refers to the smell which is exactly like that of a billy goat!
Bizarre flowers which look a bit like the rear end of a lizard.
Pyramidal Orchid
After seeing the Lizard Orchids I took a short drive to a nearby site to see a new plant for me, namely White Rock Rose - Helianthemum apenninum. This rare plant in the UK only grows at a few localities and one of them is in Devon, but seeing as I was already in Somerset and very close to a site I thought I might as well see them here.
White Rock Rose - Helianthemum apenninum.
On Monday I had a look around the Axe Yacht Club, not for birds like I'd normally do but for interesting plants. What prompted this was seeing a large stand of Viper's Bugloss on one of the banks, a plant that I'd never seen here before. I assume that it has arisen from a seed bank uncovered due to the extensive erosion caused during the severe winter storms that we had. Almost all of the existing vegetation was washed away but areas that were bare a few months ago are now being recolonized. I photographed afew of the species I found but there will be more to come.
An impressive stand of Viper's Bugloss - Echium vulgare ..
... Being enjoyed by Tree Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum
Creeping Cinquefoil - Potentilla reptans
Horned Poppy - Glaucium flavum
Rough Clover - trifolium scabrum
Wild Carrot - Daucus carota
Close up showing the red central flower.
Buckshorn Plantain - Plantago coronopus
4 comments:
All lovely but particularly fond of the lizard orchid. What lens did you use?
Thanks Ian. Just the trusty old Canon Sx50 superzoom. The best thing about using a bridge camera is the live view and swivel screen meaning that I can get close photos whilst standing up, thus minimizing damage to surrounding vegetation :-)
Lovely shots Karen - the Lizards are looking great this year. Beautifully captured.
Thanks Roger
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