Fly Orchid
Ophrys insectifera
Height up to 40cm

Intriguing, rather slender plant of dry grassland, open woodland and scrub on calcareous soils. Locally common in England and Wales, rare in Ireland and absent from Scotland. Oval, glossy leaves appear as a basal rosette and up stem. The superficially insect-like flowers comprise greenish sepals and thin, brown and antennae-like upper petals; lower petal is elongated with two side lobes and is maroon with a metallic blue patch. Flowers borne in open spikes, May­June.