Website dedicated to rare flower

BBC News - UK

The lesser butterfly orchid grows on the edges of moorland
A website has been launched in a bid to record locations of an increasingly rare flower.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said the west of Scotland was considered a stronghold for the lesser butterfly orchid.

Its numbers have "declined significantly" across the UK, the government agency said.

The public can send locations of where they find it to the website: www.snh.org.uk/orchid2009/.

Plantlife Scotland, the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh are helping to gather information about the orchid's ecology and distribution.

SNH's plant specialist Robin Payne said: "We're grateful to all those who have taken part in the survey and submitted records on the website so far.

"Now that we know so much more about the lesser butterfly orchid we can take real, well informed action that will protect and conserve this species."

Lesser butterfly orchids grow on the edges of moorland or in damp grassland, often along the edge of ditches or even on roadside verges. The slender white flowers appear from early June through to mid-July.