This weird and wonderful looking plant is a bee orchid. They get their name from their main pollinator, the bee, and have an unusual way of drawing them in. The flower looks and smells like a female bee so male bees are attracted to the flowers and fly in to attempt to mate. The bee gets covered in pollen, in turn pollinating the next orchid it visits.
Bee orchid- George Polden
Bee orchids can take 5-8 years to flower and can be very variable in terms of colour, markings and flower shape. Here at Frampton Marsh we are lucky enough to have some of these amazing plants on show. If you head around towards East hide you’ll see them on the junction where the path to the hide meets the main path to the sea bank. Pop along and see if you can spot them!