Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

231DactylorhizB praetermissa. Southern marsh~orchid.Ashdown Forest in TQ/4.3, c. 1955, R. A. Boniface. Tetrad 43L (Hall 1980).Not refound in this area (the record in AFN 9: 3~4 refers to D. incarnata) , but scattered around in Sussex on a range ofsoils and it could reappear on the Forest. It is widespread in southern England and Wales. It is endemic to north-westEurope.Orchis mascula. Early purple-orchid, Long purples, Ram's horn (sometimes also used for 0. morio), Dead men's fingers,Dead man's hand, Stinkers.Tetrads 42N and 42T (Hall 1980) and refound in both.Abundant in copse near Mudbrooks House (403.339), pH 6.3, 1995, TR & PA;roadsides and woodland at Toll Lane (458.263), pH 5.9, four spikes in 1988, CM and stillthere with many vegetative plants too, 1995, TR & JK; Toll Lane coppice (461.263) where it3-++-------~-r- has been known for some time (AFN 9: 3-4) - two plants in 1989, 120 plants in 1990 and4 530 + plants in 1991, and still present in 1993-1995; two plants on hedge bank, nearColeman's Hatch (456.338), 1995, TR; transplanted to Fairwarp Village Hall, B. Hoath, andsurviving well (466.264). In all cases it grows on the richer clay soils, and avoids the acidicheathy soils.The name 'stinkers' comes from the tom-cat smell of the flowers after fertilisation or at night after it has been picked,so they are best left in the countryside where they can be appreciated.Frequent to locally common in Sussex. Widespread in Britain, sometimes at quite high altitudes in the mountains, butdecreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). It is recorded in much of Europe, Asia and North Africa.Orchis morio.Green-winged orchid.Nutley Place, 1948; meadow near Garde, few in 1941, four in 1944, three in 1945, presentin 1947; G. Dent (Dent 1928-1953). Old Lodge (457.299), on the right part of the bankbetween the lawns in the 1960s, but gone by 1990, S. Stewart, possibly the tetrad 42Precord in Hall (1980).•3-++-------~+- We had no records until 1995 when we thought we should ask the locals: six plants onlawn at Windyridge (440.319), 1995, S. Stewart - the numbers vary from year to year and4 5they are protected with cages as the deer are rather partial to them; one plant in Fairwarpchurchyard (465.268), pH 6.3, 1995, PO, only two florets left after the mower; 12 plants onsteep herb-rich grassy grass bank, Nutley Hall (44.27), 1993, PS - the plants are carefullylooked after and the bank is not mown until mid-summer (this is presumably Dent's site); small purple orchids on thelawns at Oldlands Hall (475.275) seen regularly by R. Barley are assumed to be this.Detailed population studies by Terry Wells in Cambridgeshire (pers. comm. 1995) have shown that this is a perennialwhich can flower many times. 11 out of 23 plants studied have lived for at least 18 years though individual plants can liedormant so they may not be visible every year. Some plants ten years old have not yet flowered, and two plants haveflowered nearly every year - it is clearly not monocarpic as is often reported.It usually occurs in old grassland but is increasingly becoming restricted to lawns, churchyards and nature reservesdue to agricultural improvements. It is most often seen in churchyards in Sussex now, having declined dramatically sinceColeman (1836) recorded it as common in meadows around East Grinstead. Stewart, Pearman & Preston (1994) give acurrent national distribution map showing it occurs in southern Britain, and is decreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff1996). It is widely recorded in Europe and Western Asia.