Burnt Orchids - 25th May 2026

Ever since I went to view some Burnt Orchids at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Clattinger Farm  see here three years ago, they have been my favourite native wild orchid even outstripping the much vaunted and spectacular Lady's Slipper Orchids that I managed to see at Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Lancashire in 2018 before they sadly became extinct there see here

Recently I liased with fellow Oxfordshire orchid enthusiast and member of the Hardy Orchid Society (HOS) and suggested a trip to Knocking Hoe NNR in Bedfordshire to view a colony of 'burnt tips' that had been mentioned on the HOS web site.

Kocking Hoe is a 7.7 hectare unimproved chalkland site, managed by The National Trust and is both a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and features a flat bottomed valley with steep sides which is home to a variety of rare and endangered native plants including the aforesaid Burnt Orchids.

On a third day of extreme summer heat I collected Peter from his home and we set forth on the two hour drive to Knocking Hoe. A Bank Holiday Monday is maybe not the best time to venture onto our roads especially as we had to negotiate parts of no less than three motorways, the M40, M25 and M1 but we managed to avoid any undue delay and once through the outskirts of the horror that is Luton found ourselves in pleasant countryside on almost deserted roads.

Peter, having been to Knocking Hoe two years ago knew exactly where to go which was a layby beside a busy road that then required you to cross the road and walk around two sides of a beech wood to access the reserve.

On parking and getting out of an air conditioned car an hour before noon I was unprepared for just how hot the day had become and knew we were in for a very trying and perspiring expedition to see the orchids. Adding to our concern, it looked like to get to the reserve, we at first would be required to walk along the busy road with its blind corners and fast moving cars to access the wood but thankfully I discovered that a far from obvious track we could follow lay just inside the wood thus obviating us risking our lives on the road and its oncoming traffic.

It was pleasant in the shade of the beech trees as we followed the track slightly uphill to emerge into the open and there before us was a small wooden gate that gave access to the reserve..

Naturally the orchids were at the far end of the reserve which required a fairly long walk along a gently descending, undulating track that gave superb views across the open landscape of the reserve. Now out in the open, with no shelter  the strength of the sun became all too apparent and but for the very occasional welcome caress of a light  breeze it would have been very taxing walking out to the orchids.

The chalky ground we walked over was baked hard and unyielding, the grass parched and sparse as we pressed on conscious of not over exerting ourselves in the debilitating heat

The orchids were to be found on an obvious mound like hillock but located on the far side of it so it was only as we rounded the broad shoulder of the hillock that we saw the metal posts and a low wire mesh fence that enclosed and protected the orchids, making it obvious to one and all that this was where the orchids were to be found. Each orchid was marked by a little stick stuck in the ground on which was attached a small white flag.

Anecdotal posts from other orchid enthusiasts on the HOS web site suggested that it is bad year for this declining and nationally scarce orchid, due it is thought to the Spring drought of last year, with well known traditional sites  being virtually devoid of their presence. Usually dependable sites such as Clattinger Farm (none) and Mount Caburn (one) in East Sussex spring to mind.

Knocking Hoe appears to have bucked the trend with over fifty counted in their enclosure  but what took us by surprise was how small they were this year, even for what is a diminutive orchid in normal times.They were almost stunted and overwhelmed by the grasses and flora they grew amongst but still appeared perfect in form and colour, their intrinsic charm and exquisite beauty remaining unaffected.

I duly took my photos, kneeling on the hard ground or even lying on it to get that particular shot, so small were the plants.

To describe the Burnt Orchids I can do no better than transcribe part of David Lang's description of this orchid in his book Britain's Orchids

The burnt tip flower spike is cylindrical and has between 15-50 small close packed flowers.The sepals and upper petals form a tight hood which is dark  reddish brown when the flowers first open giving the appearance of being 'burned' , but fading rapidly as the flowers mature.The lip is white  with two rounded side lobes and a bluntly forked central lobe, marked with discrete crimson spots 

As per our normal practice we searched for variations.Most orchid species can show variety in the colour of their flowers and hybridisation is also not uncommon so part of the fun in looking for and at orchids is trying to find those that differ from the normal.

Our first success was finding one that was a more attractive overall purple maroon than white but stood only three inches tall 

We found another plant growing demurely and well away from the compound but still with its attendant marker flag that had a bubble gum pink bonnet of flower buds yet to open rather than the traditional darker maroon while the open flowers were white and unmarked.

We devoted forty five minutes to admiring this most desirable orchid but the heat was making life uncomfortable and we commenced  a wearisome trudge back along the mainly uphill track to the wood.

There were a couple of surprises for us on the way back in the form of a lone Pasque Flower, another endangered member of our native flora, growing right beside the track and in a shaded area of long grass near to the reserve entrance we found five pink spikes of the Chalk Fragrant Orchid, poking skywards like miniature church steeples.

Pasque Flower

I was never so glad to return to the car as now and avail myself of its air conditioning.