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Bird's-nest orchids

Bird's-nest orchids ©Les Binns

Bird's-nest orchid

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Enw gwyddonol: Neottia nidus-avis
The Bird's-nest orchid gets its name from its nest-like tangle of roots. Unlike other green plants, it doesn’t get its energy from sunlight. Instead, it grows as a parasite on tree roots, so its brownish-yellow flowers look a bit sickly.

Top facts

Stats

Height: up to 35cm

Conservation status

Classified as Near Threatened on the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain. Protected in Northern Ireland under the Wildlife Order, 1985.

Pryd i'w gweld

May to July

Ynghylch

The Bird's-nest orchid is a very strange plant. It is leafless and without the green chlorophyll of other plants that enable them to gain energy from sunlight through photosynthesis; instead, it grows as a parasite on the roots of trees, gaining its nutrients from its host. Usually found in woodland, particularly under Beech trees, this almost sickly looking, yellow plant appears from May to July.

What to look for

The Bird's-nest orchid has a brownish-yellow flower spike with small, hooded flowers clustered together. It is leafless.

Where to find

Scattered distribution throughout mainland UK; locally common in Southern England and Northern Ireland.

Roeddech chi yn gwybod?

Orchids are highly specialised plants found all around the globe, except in the driest deserts and on the coldest glaciers. There are at least 25,000 species of orchid, some of which live underground or grow on rocks, but many of which grow on tropical trees.