Conservationists are celebrating the resurgence of the lady’s-slipper orchid, one of Britain’s rarest wildflowers, with the discovery of the first new plant in the wild in almost a century.
The striking flower, which once teetered on the brink of extinction in the English countryside, may one day be restored across its former range, experts have said.
Driven to near-extinction by Victorian plant hunters and habitat loss, the lady’s-slipper orchid was believed to have disappeared from the UK by the early 20th century.
However, the chance discovery of a single plant in the Yorkshire Dales in 1930 led to round-the-clock protection by volunteers.
This discovery spurred efforts to propagate and reintroduce the orchids to their former habitats.
Two years ago, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust secured a grant from Natural England’s species recovery programme to ramp up the work protecting the habitat, rearing many new orchids and reintroducing plants into a suitable habitat.
In 2024, monitoring uncovered the first “new” lady’s-slipper orchid in nearly 100 years at one of the reintroduction sites, which meant planted-out orchids had managed to produce seeds that had germinated into new plants.
Jono Leadley, managing the project on behalf of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said the discovery of the new plant in the wild was a “truly thrilling moment”.
“To see a healthy population of lady’s-slipper orchids back in their native area that are now reproducing themselves gives us real hope for the future,” he said.
“This first sign of success is a result of decades of dedication and commitment shown by many volunteers and the staff of the various organisations involved,” he added.
Efforts to boost the population of lady’s-slipper orchids, whose last-known wild location remained a closely-guarded secret, began in the 1990s, with a plea for help that resulted in a small number of privately-owned, wild-sourced orchids being offered as part of a captive breeding programme.
Plants were reintroduced to locations in the north of England – which were also kept secret to avoid the ongoing threat of theft.
The project since 2023 has been led by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and supported by partners Natural England, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the National Trust, Plantlife and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).
Orchids were propagated by Kew, which has worked for many years on saving the species, using techniques that meant many more seedlings sprouted than in the wild, with young plants then nurtured by a network of volunteer orchid specialists managed by the National Trust.
Suitable wild sites were identified by Plantlife and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts, with young orchids planted out with expert help from BSBI, who also closely monitored and assessed each site.
Reintroductions were carried out at three new sites in Yorkshire and several hundred new orchids were produced to be planted out in future years.
In June 2024, an orchid which had grown naturally at one of the reintroduction sites was discovered, marking a major success of the programme, conservationists said.
Kevin Walker, of BSBI, said: “The discovery of this naturally regenerating seedling represents a significant turning point for one of our rarest and most threatened plants, and is testament to the dedication of hundreds of volunteers and enthusiasts who have carefully nurtured it back into the wild.
“It provides evidence that this beautiful plant can, with a bit of help from us, re-establish itself across its former range.”
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said people who wanted to see a lady’s-slipper orchid could do so by visiting Kilnsey Park near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales in late May and early June.
