That guy who found a ghost #orchid
Botanist with particular interest in British & European #Orchids. Tour leader for Mariposa Nature and member of #Wildflowerhour team
Have placed #dental implants since 2009, favouring Southern site-specific systems
Dr Richard Bate
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A year ago today my book ‘Urban Plants’ was released into the wild. I could never have predicted the wonderful response it’s had, and I’m thrilled Mark Avery crowned it his ‘Book of 2025’ (markavery.info/2025/11/30/t...). If you’ve bought a copy, thank you! #UrbanPlants #UrbanGaze 1/4…
One of the Southern Marsh-orchids in Middlesbrough (left) and one of the Southern at Great Ayton (right).
They are this far up the country now.
Confusing colony of orchids growing on a @northyorkmoors.org.uk verge. Marsh orchids in this area are usually Northern - but these look different.
@thenewgalaxy.bsky.social @dunnjons.bsky.social
From mountain to coast this weekend. Alpine saxifrage (Micranthes nivalis), spring sandwort, butterfly orchid and round-leaved wintergreen #wildflowerhour #wildflowers @europeanorchids.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Maybe not the rarest, but who can deny the exquisite beauty of a Bee Orchid?
What a truly wonderful flower. Seen a few this week at different locations in Weymouth, and I am compelled to stop and admire every little one. I just love them. 🩷
#wildflowerhour
#orchidchallenge
For @wildflowerhour.bsky.social's #OrchidChallenge: the strange, cinnamon-scented (to me, anyway) Bird's-Nest Orchid, Neottia nidus-avis - the Latin name says it all 🪺🐦⬛
No green bits needed at all, as it gets all it nourishment from soil mycorrhizae, and it's pollinated by flies and ants.
A fantastic orchid weekend in Kent - a bit of solo exploring on Saturday, then joined @mariposanature.bsky.social on Sunday. 14 species in total. Here's a commemorative collage for #WildflowerHour #OrchidChallenge
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Names in ALT text.
8/6/26 #Yorkshire - Easily my favourite Dactylorhiza, Pugsley's Marsh #Orchid (D. traunsteinerioides) at Kilnsey. An annual pilgrimage, hoping to visit with company next year @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour
31/5/26 - It has been a joy to lead our annual #OrchidsOfKent tour alongside @dunnjons.bsky.social. My highlight was catching #pseudocopulation in action for the second year running; this time a Eucera bee on a Late Spider #Orchid (Ophrys fuciflora). For the #wildflowerhour #OrchidChallenge
7/6/26 Cumbria - The Northern Marsh #Orchid (L) and Southern Marsh Orchid (R) generally follow a North & South distribution but that is not what defines them. However, there is a line in Cumbria that the latter appears to largely regard as a Northerly limit, at least in this county #wildflowerhour
