Ladies and their hair

I eventually found some Autumn Ladies Tresses to photograph the other week. This photograph shows how this orchid got its name. The spiral of flowers around this 10cm stem really do look like plaits of hair.

Spiralis

.

Delicate and small we eventually found them. The grass had been mown late; far too late. The orchids had probably been topped. However, we searched anyway and Bob managed to find a couple of spikes that were so small they’d escaped the blades.

Autumn Ladies Tresses are so called because of their resemblance to plaits of hair. This is also reflected within the Latin name of Spiranthes spiralis. I’m not sure what the passing builders thought of me lying flat out on the ground photographing them but it sparked enough interest for them to ask a few questions about what they were.

.