Change language
Actions
Displays
Remove from selection
Add to selection
Abstract

A rare orchid found on an Islington rooftop has set the botanical world alight.

The tiny green-winged orchid was spotted by a council worker on the green roof of the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre in Holloway – the closest the species has been seen to central London.

It has seen a huge decline in numbers because 99 per cent of its favoured hay meadow habitat has been lost in this country in the last 100 years. It requires highly specific conditions to germinate and could be the first of many to appear on the site.

The orchid has been verified by London Wildlife Trust conservation ecologist Mike Waller, who said he was “amazed” when he heard of the discovery.

It survives in only one or two other places in outer London – and nowhere in inner London. The orchid can take five years or more between germinating and putting up a flowering spike.

Mr Waller added: “There are only really one or two sites in London where it still flowers today. One of the most famous sites is Morden Cemetery, but it has not flowered there for about 10 years now. This is an example of the quality and good management of this green roof.”

Islington Council environment chief Councillor Claudia Webbe said: “It just shows that even in inner-city, urban areas you can create the kind of conditions that encourage and nurture the rarest wildlife there is.”