Early purple orchid
May
Early purple orchid
(Orchis mascula L.)
Contrary to popular belief, not all wild orchids are rare. This beautiful plant is common in a variety of situations across Northern Ireland in May, and can be seen on roadside banks, in woodland, scrub and on sea cliff ledges. This specimen was photographed on the basalt cliffs below the lighthouse at Black Head, at the southern end of Islandmagee, Co. Antrim.
Although orchids like this have been collected and preserved as museum objects by drying and pressing, nowadays botanists prefer to record them by photography except in special circumstances.
The Ulster Museum will be collaborating with a number of groups and individuals in a new survey of Ireland's wild orchids beginning in 2007 and lasting for about four years. This survey has a number of aims including re-locating the rarest species and flagging up their conservation requirements, and checking the precise identity of Irish plants as compared to similar ones in Great Britain and continental Europe.
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