Dactylorhiza incaranta Early Marsh Orchid

A native perennial orchid of damp or wet chalky soils, found in meadows, marshes, and fens, and also on more acidic soils in bogs and damp heaths. It has declined due to drainage and agricultural improvement, and is often the first Dactylorhiza to be lost when a habitat begins to dry out. Most records are of subsp. incarnata which has been recorded recently in about forty sites, including fens and marshes in the Waveney valley and in coastal marshes. Scattered in other parts of the county where there is calcareous ground water.

Subsp. pulchella has been recorded a few times from along the Waveney valley, it prefers acidic bogs, marshes and damp heathland, a habitat that is now very scarce in the county.