THE article on the green-winged orchid being mown at Welland was very interesting.

I have been very impressed with the care the orchids have been given at Welland over many years now.

It is indeed a pity that some of the orchids have been mown down, but I hope that they will survive the cut and reappear next year. I also hope that those responsible for mowing are better informed next year and seek advice from local people to increase the size of the ‘protected’ area.

Although it is not particularly common, and is believed to have suffered a steady decline as a result of ploughing up and improving grasslands over the last two centuries, the greenwinged orchid is not, however, a rare plant.

It is not even a nationally scarce plant.

Although it may have declined since the turn of the century, it has not declined sufficiently to warrant being described as rare or even scarce.

I also know that it is more widely distributed in Worcestershire than the article suggests; the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has several grassland reserves where the orchid occurs in good numbers.

PETER ALMA,
Malvern