A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

Throughout the Summer months the KBRG hold field trips where the relative novice like myself can not only learn a lot quickly, but also get to see some rare plants. The Scotney estate is on mainly acid soils and I wondered what might be found. I am used to alkaline chalk soils that support a huge amount of species. Acid soils tend to support a more varied rush, sedge and grasses population, a section of botany I am still struggling with! This trip was a joint one with the Sussex Botanical Recording Group as well, as the walk straddled the two counties botanically. The botanical boundaries are historical (called Vice Counties) and no longer completely follow modern day county boundaries. This is quite typical of a field trip, getting muddy grass stained jeans! As expected there were many rushes and sedges to be found like this Hairy Sedge. Carex hirta This was one of the plants I had hoped to see, a pea family member called Bitter Vetch. I

Wild Orchids hold a fascination and are what drew me into botany in the first place. That sense of wonder when you first see a Bee Orchid, wondering what the hell it was! Well it's a few years on from those wonder filled days, and I have now seen most, if not all of Kent's orchids. However it doesn't stop me from going back once in a while to re-discover their beauty and that's what this day was about. Where possible, I am happy to publish where I find wild orchids, provided they are already well documented on the internet. Sometimes I have to keep locations quiet though, in case of theft or trampling of very rare orchids. First up was a site near Faversham with just such a rarity, a hybrid of the Monkey and Man Orchid. This hybrid hasn't been seen here for many years but it has occurred in the past, it's a stunning plant! It wasn't very tall, only about 8-10" but crammed with flowers. Luckily, I saw it at its best with all the flowers ope

I've been to this reserve many times, first to see Lady Orchids, then to appreciate fantastic Bluebell and Early Purple Orchid displays amongst other wildflowers of course. There's a narrow trip on the reserve's Southern edge that holds the best concentration of orchids. First up was actually a grass, the Wood Melick. It's an attractive grass in flower and seed and often present in chalk soil woodlands. Melica uniflora Common Twayblades were common here with their distinctive pair of large oval basal leaves. They are a bit of a dull wild orchid, but they are a good indicator species that other orchids may grow here. The flowers remind me of a two legged lizard with cheeks flared! Neottia ovata Early Purple Orchids were still going strong, though some were on their way out now being one of the first UK orchids to flower. Here's the usual colour form with a late Bluebell Orchis mascula