I was at Hembury Woods yesterday and saw this orchid by the path. Our Ranger John Wales has corralled it with a ring of cut bracken to stop it being inadvertently trampled by visitors.
It is a broad-leaved helleborine
Beautiful pink flowers
Very few orchids are common and broad-leaved helleborine certainly isn’t. It is a widely distributed species but is usually hard to find and it is rarely abundant. Deer often eat them before they get to this stage.
