Britain’s rarest plant, a ‘Holy Grail’ orchid, has been rediscovered for the first time since 2009 and scientists are now working to protect it from slugs, deer – and poachers.
The ghost orchid was discovered earlier this month by Richard Bate, a dentist, orchid lover and member of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).
Its location in England is now kept secret to prevent its delicate underground parts from being trampled by enthusiasts who want to see it – or its bloom from being picked by a poacher. Bate has spent 30 years searching deep, dark woods in the hope of catching a glimpse of this rare flower.
Prof Ian Denholm, one of the BSBI’s two national orchid assessors, said: “The ghost orchid has long been the holy grail for British botanists. There was a brief flurry of records in the 1960s and 1970s and I was lucky enough to see a single specimen in the mid-1980s. Since then, to my knowledge, only six people have observed it in the wild in the UK. It is wonderful news that it has resurfaced and let’s hope it happens again.”
The flower, named for its unreal bright white shade, was first discovered in the UK in Herefordshire in 1854. It is rare and found in hard-to-find places, and has only been spotted a few dozen times in the UK in the 170 years since. Experts declared it extinct in 2009 after it had disappeared for 22 years, but the orchid defiantly resurfaced a week later. It had not been seen since then until this month.
Dr Kevin Walker, BSBI’s Chief Scientific Officer, said: “This is an outstanding discovery by Richard and a fitting reward for his years of painstaking searching. Anyone who has tried and failed to see this enigmatic plant knows how much skill and luck it takes to find them. They are incredibly difficult to spot in the foliage and often only survive for a few hours or days, being greedily hunted by all manner of creatures from snails to deer.”
The orchid is found only in the deepest forests, has no leaves or chlorophyll and therefore cannot carry out photosynthesis. It feeds on nutrients from fungi that live underground and, as it does not need sunlight, it lives mainly in the soil and only flowers in perfect conditions. In England it prefers dark beech or oak forests, but elsewhere in Europe it has also been found under pine trees.
Bate said: “Knowing that the ghost orchid is still here and has not become extinct in the UK gives me hope for the future of this species. This discovery reminds us that even in the darkest forests, there is always hope.”
Ghost orchid sightings in the UK
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Herefordshire and Shropshire: The plant flowered in only five years between 1854 and 1910, followed by a 72-year gap until 1982 and then a 27-year gap until the last sighting in 2009.
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Oxfordshire: Discovered by a schoolgirl in 1924, the ghost orchid bloomed for about a dozen years between 1924 and 1979.
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Buckinghamshire: The ghost orchid was first discovered in 1953 and flowered 25 times between 1953 and 1987.
