Common name:
Frog orchid
Family:
Scientific name:
Coeloglossum viride
Main flower color:
Range:
Scattered areas across all of the UK
Height:
Up to 20 cm
Habitat:
Calcareous grassland; most common on chalk downland
Flowers:
The three sepals, reddish-green to pale yellow, form a hood that encloses the two upper petals. The lower petal is greenish-yellow, red to brown along the margins (and becoming redder as it withers), projecting forwards and downwards; its tip is shallowly divided into three lobes, or teeth. Each flower is subtended by a narrow bract, similar in length. The inflorescence is an open cluster, covering up to 7 cm of the top of the stem
Leaves:
Broadly ovate, mostly basal; the few stem leaves are shorter and narrower
Season:
June to August
Rarity:
★★★★★
