So far, we had discovered three species of orchids in the Aamsveen, a peat bog near my home town in The Netherlands: the common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii or maybe Dactylorhiza maculata), the lesser butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia), and the eggleaf twayblade (Neottia ovata).
The lesser butterfly-orchid has since disappeared completely, as has the eggleaf twayblade, but the latter wasn't supposed to be in that habitat anyway; it was probably brought there with the sand used to shore up a path.
A few days ago, we found a fourth species: the broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine), brede wespenorchis in Dutch.
The flowers up close:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO400, f5.6, 1/50s
The peculiar bottom leaves:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO400, f5.6, 1/80s
Overview:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO400, f5.6, 1/80s
That makes four discovered species of orchids in a relatively small area, but only two are still around.
Thanks for watching!