Green-winged orchid

My trusty companion (see extra) and I went for a longer morning walk this morning, we took the usual route up to the top of the Knott and then descended on the opposite side and walked to the cowslip field, then finally dropping down towards Far Arnside. Our mission was ultimately to photograph and blip the green-winged orchids (as I had promised Winchwench) that grow in small numbers in the short limestone grassland at the last location.  I think this is the same plant I photographed last year, the main spike still opening with at least two others still in bud. It was only 3 inches tall, it will elongate a little more, though the dry spring is causing it to be more dwarfed than usual.

I did the same walk on 28th April 2019, and I could almost have written the same text both in respect of the orchids and my companion Gus. I won't repeat what I said then about the orchids and the relatively recent revision of the taxonomy of this species (and many other orchids) based on DNA sequencing. The similarity of this species to the early purple orchid that I blipped this year on 17th April is more superficial than was once thought, and it was found to be more closely related to the fragrant orchids of the genus Anacamptis, hence its name change from Orchis morio to Anacamptis morio.

As for Gus, I noted a year ago that this walk was now a bit too long for him. Amazingly, a year on he can still manage the walk if we go in the cool of the early morning, albeit he is slower still and has frequent stops to investigate interesting scents, and to have a drink from the bowl I was carrying for him. And he was tired for the rest of the day. But it's now clear that I shall have to leave him resting at home for these longer expeditions after his usual morning circuit of the Knott.