The main reason for Tom's visit to Hartslock NR/SSSI was to visit the famed monkey orchid which is restricted to three (now four as a new locality in Sussex has been found in the last few weeks) sites. One of Britain's rarest orchids, its had an interesting flirtation with the lady orchid, another rare orchid which was first seen at the site in 2002. This has produced a 'hybrid swarm' of spectacular orchids- the history and context of which can be found on the Hartslock website - click here -.
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| Monkey orchid (Orchis simia) |
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| Monkey orchid (Orchis simia) |
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| Left: monkey orchid (Orchis simia), middle: the hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris), right: a potential lady orchid (Orchis purpurea)(while the right hand individual shares many similarities with the lady orchid, a back-crossed hybrid cannot be rules out). |
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| Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris). |
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| Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) swarm. |
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| Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) variation. |
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| Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) swarm. |
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| Monkey x lady orchid hybrid (Orchis x angusticruris) among the last cowslips. |
The site is well known and has only increased in footfall since the arrival of the hybrids, and while it is great to experience the fantastic orchids and reserve it has lead to casualties due to trampling on the site. This year apparently has been particularly bad with a couple of monkey orchids completely trampled- so take care and enjoy considerately!
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