We are delighted to be working with Steve Threlkeld who manages the Dunsdon Nature reserve in West Devon to help reverse the decline in one of Britain’s iconic orchid species. project forms part of the Back from the Brink project to save Britain’s most threatened species from extinction and students will be raising plants from seed in the Mendip Propagation Laboratory as part of their R & D project work.

Yesterday Steve visited to work with students on pollination techniques in preparation for this years flowering of the species at Dunsdon.

After pollinating 15 different orchid species in the greenhouse Steve spent time with students in the Mendip Propagation Lab looking at our propagation techniques and was particularly interested in this flask of germinated bee orchid seed (Orchis apifera)

We hope that by this time next year we will have many thousands of seedlings of the Lesser Butterfly Orchid at the same stage.