Lizard Orchids in Oxfordshire 6th June 2025

One of the most impressive and largest of our native orchids is the Lizard Orchid which can grow up to a metre in height.They are only found in southeast England and in my home county of Oxfordshire, which must be approaching its northerly limit, I know of only two locations where it grows, one of which I visited today.

It is for me an annual and much anticipated  pilgrimage to a scruffy and unremarkable verge, literally feet from a well used road, where two plants have faithfully appeared each year to the delight of us orchidophiles. They are now protected by two stout wooden posts, one either side of them to prevent any inadvertant mowing by the council. Their chosen location is typical of this sun loving orchid which grows widely on roadsides in Europe as well as on chalk grassland, sand dunes, old quarries and in England seems also to have a predilection for golf courses

There are two plants growing close together and on my visit today they were leaning in the  stiff breeze and almost in full flower. I always worry about their apparent vulnerability but hiding in plain sight seems to be their salvation and they go un-noticed, the road having virtually no foot traffic apart from visits from orchid enthusiasts..

The name comes from the fact the individual flowers, of which there can be up to eighty in each untidy looking spike, can with a bit of imagination resemble a lizard. As the flower bud opens, the lip uncurls like a watch spring and twists as it does so.

The petals and upper sepals form a grey green hood, the supposed head of the lizard, while the two outer lobes of the purplish brown lip look like hind legs and the much longer central lobe a twisted tail.

An individual flower showing the head, legs and  twisted
central lobe resembling the tail of a lizard

The flower itself is pale and greenish with pink spots and stripes, the obvious long, ribbon like tail tinged green and purple.The flowers smell strongly of goats and the foul scent attracts many insects but due to the structure of the flower only bees of a moderate size can act as pollinators. 

Always rare and scarce in Britain, they were considered extinct in 1900 but were rediscovered in 1920 in Kent, subsequently expanding their range as far north as Yorkshire but retreating again after 1930. Another range expansion commenced in 1990, reaching west to Somerset and Gloucestershire, east to Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and north to Linconshire. Now the main populations of this orchid in Britain are found on golf courses and amongst sand dunes at Sandwich Bay, both in Kent and where they can be found in their hundreds if not thousands.There is also another large colony on Newmarket Racecourse in Cambridgeshire.

I duly took my photos and enjoyed some time with these spectacular orchids, crouching beside them, entirely alone apart from fast moving cars which due to the close proximity of the orchids to the roadside had to be carefully watched for. 

Despite their height they can be surprisingly
inconspicuous amongst tall grasses and other
vegetation

Standing up I looked across the road and to my immense pleasure there was another Lizard Orchid, almost overwhelmed amongst the thankfully unmown vergeside flora, and again growing right at the edge of the road.This specimen  was less advanced and not as tall as the two on the opposite side of the road and its flowers were only now beginning to open from the base upwards.

It is always a thrill to make such an unexpected and welcome discovery and much enthused I walked quite a distance along both sides of the road looking to see if I could find any more orchids.

I didn't, so the orchid's reputation for being rare and scarce remained intact, especially here in Oxfordshire