Photographs: Barleycove, Co. Cork

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio (Orchis morio) Magairlín féitheach Family: Orchidaceae Flowering time: May-June. Tuberous perennial. Native. Flowers in a loose spike, usually purple but can be pink or occasionally white. Sepals form hood with parallel green-purplish veins. The lip is broad, bluntly 3-lobed with crimson spots. Unspotted glossy green leaves, lower leaves in rosette, the upper sheathing. Grows on base-rich to slightly acidic soils. Grassland, dunes, heaths, roadsides. Locally frequent, but decreasing. An endangered species. Similar: Early Purple Orchid, Orchis mascula No veins on sepals

Green-winged Orchid, Anacamptis morio, Magairlín féitheach