Coralroot Orchid: (Corallorhiza trifida) Another amazing rare orchid, this time the coralroot, so named because its rhizomes are said to look like clumps of coral. It has no 'true' roots; instead it has tufts of hairs on which the mycorrhizal fungi live. The plant is totally dependent on the fungi, which the plant would die without.
I found this orchid on my birthday mini-trip away to the North East, with out first stop in Newcastle.
After calling the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN) office and unknowingly talking to James Common, who was very helpful in giving me some information on the reserve and the location of the orchid.
NHSN members and other volunteers have been improving the habitat on Gosforth Park Nature Reserve for the past 80 years, with funds coming from DEFRA and other private donors.
The reserve has a shallow lake, extensive reed bed and mixed woodland and is scientifically important for its uncommon flora and fauna including bittern, kingfisher, otter, red squirrel, coral-root orchid and purple hairstreak butterfly.
This ecological importance has been recognised with its designation as a Local Wildlife Site and Wildlife Corridor, while the southern half of the reserve has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Great birthday gift to myself!
For more infomation about this brilliant little reserve chcek out the link below.
http://www.nhsn.ncl.ac.uk/resources/gosforth-park-nature-reserve/
