Country diary: In a sea of green, this strange orchid has none

Great Shacklow Wood, Derbyshire: The bird's nest orchid is virtually colourless, but nevertheless is an extraordinary plantIsn't it strange how beech trees, which are the most beautiful lightest green in May, have a canopy so dark it can seem almost black by June. Here, on the slopes of the River Wye, the foliage immerses the wood in silence as much as shadow. Silence except for a virtuoso blackbird, whose solo is intensified by the background lull. And shadow, except for shafts of piercing light that break through whenever the treetops sway.Those wandering lenses of sunshine spotlight the ferns and the mosses on the woodland floor, or X-ray sections of the canopy so that, through binoculars, I can see the veining in every individual leaf. It is like seeing into the inner life of the wood. If the sun specks intensify a sense of intimacy with this place, then the organism that I've come to find lets me glimpse into the very secrets of its underworld. Continue reading...