LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID

(Platanthera bifolia)

(Margairlean an Dealain-de Beag)
WHAT IS THE LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID?
  • This is an attractive plant, with creamy-white flowers tinged with green. The best time to look for the flowering plants is in June and July
  • It grows in heathy pastures, grassland, open scrub, woodland edges and on moorland
  • It is tolerant of wet conditions and is usually found in moist grassland and heathland in Scotland
  • It grows on a variety of soil types too, ranging from acid to calcareous, overlying sands, gravels and clays
A close-up of the Lesser Butterfly Orchid

GOOD NEWS

  • Scotland still has some of the best places to see this species in the wild, especially along the west coast and on the islands.

BAD NEWS

  • It has declined throughout the UK, and has suffered a 33% decline between 1964 and 2002
  • Drainage of fields, woodland disturbance, ploughing up of grassland and heathland, spreading of fertilizers, spraying with herbicides, heavy grazing during the summer, and cutting the roadside verges in the flowering season, are activites, that have brought about its decline

HOW YOU CAN HELP
We are asking everyone who finds this orchid to record its location and send the information back to
us. We can then map its remaining sites and help landowners to ensure the plant’s continued survival.

IDENTIFICATION NOTES
There are two species;
Lesser and Greater Butterfly orchid

  1. The Lesser grows to a height of about 30cms and the Greater to about 50cms

  2. The Lesser has smaller, more clustered and slightly whiter flowers than the Greater

  3. The spur of each flower of the Lesser is slender and hoizontal whilst the Greater has a down-turned spur

  4. The pollinia inside the flower are parallel in the Lesser and diverge in the Greater. To see these clearly you need to look closely and may need a hand lens
Drawing showing the differences between lesser and greater butterfly orchid flowers
Lesser Butterfly Orchid in Heathland habitat

HABITATS

Heath/Moorland:
open areas where heathers are the main plants

Grassland:
pastures, meadows and fields

Marsh/Flushes:
wet areas with some standing water

Woodland:
dominated by trees or scrub

LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID RECORDING FORM

Location
Vice County
Date
Grid Reference
 e.g NM 123 456 notes
Recorder First name
Recorder Surname
Recorder's address
Postcode
Recorder's email address
Number of flowering plants
Number of non- flowering plants
notes
Habitat +notes
Management
 notes
Please email Lesser Butterfly Orchid photos to lesserbutterflyorchid@carnbo.freeserve.co.uk

Remember the Scottish Outdoor Access Code when visiting the countryside.
Remember wildlife legislation also - please don’t pick any of the flowering plants.

   

This is a joint project between SNH, BSBI & Plantlife