Scientific name: Coeloglossum viride (L.) Hartman
Common name: Frog orchid
Description
Habit: Plant with 2 divided tapering underground tubers; stems to 20(-35)cm high.
Leaves: Several leaves present, decreasing in size up stem, bluish-green in colour, oval-oblong, the lowest leaves 1.5-5cm long.
Flowers: Greenish, often tinged with reddish-brown, 8mm across, in a short, cylindrical spike; sepals and upper petals forming a hood; labellum oblong, much longer than sepals, 3-lobed at the apex with the middle lobe much smaller than the lateral lobes; spur very short, c.2mm long, rounded; ovary stalkless, twisted.
Habitat: Sand dunes, dune slacks, pastures and meadows, eskers, pavement and quarries and marshes, fens and lakeshores.
Distribution: Fairly rare but easily overlooked.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No
Variation: Plants can appear green or red, depending on the levels of red pigment present.