New Location for Dune Helleborine.

[Dorts]

I make no apologies for repeating some of my remarks I have posted on the thread titled 'Mystery Helleborine'

Yesterday Jeff, (jeffnsue), posted the following thread:

Originally Posted by jeffnsue

Hi Chaps
A chum of mine was out north of Wrexham yesterday and photographed Helleborines at a woodland site.
Most were Broad-Leaved Helleborine

I thought the plant looked remarkably like Dune Helleborine and not Broad-leved Helleborine as was implied.

The habitat was quite important as it is rarely found away from Sand Dunes and Pine Forests. Jeff said it was found in Broadleaved Woodland near Wrexham, a location far from the nearest locations of Dune Helleborine which grow at Anglesey and in the Formby area.

So convinced was I that this was Epipactis dunensis that I took the liberty of sending Jeffs friends photo to the BSBI Referee for Epipactis. He replied almost instantly as below.

"Yes, these are E. dunensis. The epichile looks at bit purplish, but I find this is an artefact that can occur in photos due to the colour of the hypochile showing through;
'in the flesh' the epichile is green.
It would be interesting to know more about the ecology of the site. Is it a reclamation site ex e.g. coal or metal waste? as this is often the case with inland dunensis. However I do know of sites on the corners of Industrial estates under shabby sycamores so you can't always tell!"

The site that this orchid was found was indeed in an old Coal Mining area.

I shall visit the site tomorrow with Jeff and shall take Grid Refs. following which the locations of any E. dunensis I find will be sent to the BSBI County Recorder.

I have checked, and E. dunensis has never been recorded in the Wrexham area. So this would indeed appear to be a new and possibly very important site for this rare and rather local Orchid.
(A very pleased) Dorts.

[the young hunter]

Just posted on the original thread and can I say this is a fantastic find, not just because Dune Helleborine is a rare and local species but beacuse it is also a British endemic and so finding new sites is of international importance.

I'd be interested in gaining site details if at all possible? I understand if the site is fragile/restricted to the public.

Mike.

[pammosley]

What a wonderful find & of course the wonders of WAB
Have a great day tomorrow

[aeshna5]

Excellent work by all + fantastic record!

[leifus]

Congratulations Jeff, it's an excellent find and one I'm very jealous of! Maybe one day I'll find a new site as significant as this..!

[jeffnsue]

It wasn't me, it's my chum Clive who deserves the plaudits. More correctly it's Dorts. Clive took the photos, emailed them to me as the site was new to both of us and I posted them on the forum. Neither Clive nor I suspected Dune, thinking the plant was Broad-leaved, and Dorts identified it as Dune.

We're meeting tomorrow on site to confirm

Jeff