Mansfield & Ashfield Local Members Group

Orchids Galore

Jill Carlyle

A somewhat cold and dark evening at Portland Park in Kirkby confronted us for our early June walk with Mark Woods. However the evening came alive as Mark gave us fact after fact regarding the native wild flowers found on the Magnesium Limestone upon which Portland Park and Bentinck Banks are situated.

In the meadow adjacent to the car park we found yellow rattle. When the seeds rattle in the pods this has been used as an indicator to show when the hay is ready to be cut.

Down in the woodland giant horsetail could be seen showing the lime boggy nature of the ground on which it grows. Also yellow archangel, dogs mercury and the barren strawberry indicating this woodland is old. In fact records of the area have shown the presence of woods in this area for 400 years.

On to the heathland area to see the delicate quaking grass and finally to the area known as the Bentinck triangle. Bentinck banks is an impoverished area of land but supporting a rich flora comparable to the Downs in southern England. Species here included knapweed, hawksbeard, milkwort along with the dominant grass the fescue - not to mention the orchids. On the higher alluvial terraces there was a higher sward and we tasted the mildly flavoured leaves of the salad Burnet.

If you want to know anything about orchids then Mark is your contact. He gave us an in-depth talk about the complex world of orchids and their identification and helped us to identify early spotted and marsh orchids along with bee orchids and the less glamorous twayblade,

As we wandered back again through the different habitats we saw toothwort: a strange looking plant. It has no leaves and looked nothing like a conventional plant. It is parasitic on hazel and hawthorn and is pollinated by flies, usually found March to April so we were fortunate to find this one in June.

Although the temperature of the evening was more like those in March it was a great way to spend the evening in the company of someone as knowledgeable and as enthusiastic as Mark. Great.

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