Geograph - photograph every grid square

Given its common name, it was appropriate that this was the first orchid I saw this year. According to Stace's "Flora", it can be found in the open here; in the south of Britain, it usually occurs in the shade. The same work states that it grows on neutral or base-rich soil in grassland, scrub and woods. Here, it was growing in a sheltered spot alongside a stream, on a steep grassy slope. At this point, the stream is bordered by limestone outcrops, ensuring a suitably base-rich environment for the orchid: NS4377 : Roughting Burn.

This was the first Early-purple orchid that I had ever encountered, but, according to the book "Wild Orchids of Scotland" (Allan/Woods/Clarke), it is one of our commonest orchids, found in every botanical vice-county in Scotland, and it is one of the earliest to flower (sometimes as early as April).