Orchid Observers

Photograph wild orchids and extract data from three centuries of Natural History Museum specimens to help examine what impact climate change is having on the UK’s orchids: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/citizen-science/orchid-observers.html

"Fifty-six native species of orchid grow wild in the UK, flowering from April to September. Recent research indicates that climate change is affecting the flowering time of the early spider orchid, Ophrys sphegodes. We want to find out if this is true for other wild orchids and whether all species are responding in the same way, starting with 29 species. To gather data from across the UK, we need as many people as possible to photograph orchids this spring and summer, and to send us the images with the date and location. Alongside this, we have around 15,000 orchid specimens in the Museum's British and Irish herbarium. Collected over three centuries, they can tell us about flowering times in the past. Extracting data from so many specimens is a huge task, so we need your help."