Lizard Orchids...

I last saw the Somerset Lizard Orchids in 2014 and felt they were long overdue a return visit. Yesterday my brother and I made the journey to north Somerset to Berrow Golf Course to see these unique and bizarre looking orchids.

We followed the public footpath across the fairway and soon located a handful of plants growing in the rough. Though some were showing signs of going over, others were still in reasonable condition.

Lizard Orchid, Berrow: R Harris

Strangely beautiful, Lizard Orchids are
fairly common in parts of the South East
but very scarce elsewhere. 

Plants can be large and robust,  Some
reaching over 3ft in height.

Easy to see why it got the name
Lizard Orchid with it's long 'tail'
and strange looks.

The few Bee Orchids we found had all but gone over. This one had just two flowers left.

Bee Orchid, just about hanging on.

Pyramidal Orchid, stunning little plants!

Lady's Bedstraw

After 'filling our boots' on the Lizard Orchids we headed over to see the Frog Orchids that I'd seen with Nigel last week. We found 10 of these plus hundreds of Southern Marsh, Marsh Fragrant and a few Spotted Orchids. The meadows here are pristine and probably unchanged for centuries. 

Southern Marsh Orchid 

Frog Orchid

Marsh Fragrant

All of the above in just 3 hours, a great afternoon out in Somerset.