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The Broad - leaved helleborine Tolworth Court Farm

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                                                                                           Broad -  leaved helleborine Tolworth court farm     If I enter the orchid species Epipactis helleborine into my database I receive three entries: Epsom Common 50 plants 25.7.04 Sixty Acre Wood 2 plants 15.8.21  Tolworth Court Farm 156 plants 13.8.21 The broad - leaved helleborine is widespread but not common, with populations made up of widely scattered individuals or small colonies. Owing to its dull greenish flowers and its preference for shady corners, it is an inconspicuous plant.  It can spread vegetatively, but due to short rhizomes, results in a tight clump of plants. Dispersal over a wider area must be done by seed, therefore and for the plant to set seed it must be pollinated. According to D. Morgan 2021 (British Wildlife Vol 33 no 2) the BLH primary pollinators are the social wasps, particularly the common wasp Vespula vulgaris as its flowers are largely ignored by the other nectar f