Range

This orchid was first discovered in 1840, and has always been rare in Britain, only ever having been recorded from two small areas in the New Forest (5). 200 plants were found at one site in 1900, but the population had fallen to just 20 by the start of the 1930s (5). It is thought to have become extinct by 1959 (6), and no records have been made since (5). It occurs in western, southern and central Europe, reaching east to Turkey and Russia, and is also found in North Africa (2).