Jester...

Green-winged orchid Anacamptis morio

This is the harlequin of orchids, found flowering in meadows in late spring.

Its Latin name, morio, means 'fool' and refers to the jester-like motley of its green and purple flowers. It gets its common name from the green or bronze coloured delicate green veining which lines the flower's hood. This gives it the appearance of having green wings.

Unimproved grassland is the habitat most favoured by green-winged orchids and in Cambridgeshire it is restricted to a few ancient undisturbed hay meadows and pastures on the heavy boulder clay lands. These were flowering at Upwood Meadows NNR, where the ridge-and-furrow sward of Bentley Meadow is thick with them, mostly less than 10cm tall.

I couldn't resist lying down to photograph them, but this was the last straw that broke my back, which was already rather tender after yesterday's walk, and which I'd damaged further helping Rosie into the car earlier in the day (now she's fourteen and a half she finds it difficult to leap in - at the moment I can sympathise!)