Common helleborine

Broad-leaved helleborine Epipactis helleborine is our commonest helleborine species but it's muted colours make it easy to overlook when it's growing amongst tall vegetation. This fine specimen was growing on a bank amongst long grasses on the outskirts of Durham city.

This orchid seems to be spreading quite nicely around Durham city - it's now well-established in numerous places in Durham University Botanic Garden where the gardeners carefully mow around it. I've also seen it in the grounds of several colleges, but there the plant is often less fortunate and tends to be mown when the grass is cut, after the daffodil foliage withers, and never reaches flowering size.