Along with the early spider orchid and the early purple orchid there is a third orchid in flower early in the season, the green-winged orchid (Orchis morio). It grows generally on limestone grassland and as a result occurs at Durlston national nature reserve but it also grows in some profusion at Corfe Mullen Meadows, a Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve and that is a damp pasture and certainly not limestone!
This is very much a flower of undisturbed meadows and grassland. It likes to be left in peace and once the ground is ploughed the flower is as good as gone forever. This is why it is now very local and found only in long established grassland areas. Where it does occur, however, there can be lots of them.
Usually 'stumpier' than the taller, more elegant but similar early purple orchid, and lacking the purple blotches on the leaves, the green-winged orchid is, I believe, named after the distinctive way the leaves come out from the base like a pair of wings.
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