Endangered wild orchids are set to return
to the South Downs after pioneering research in Sussex.
Plumpton College students are involved in a
detailed project to reintroduce the plants to the county.
With help from experts from the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, they will grow 2,500 orchids in a controlled environment using
the latest techniques before replanting them throughout the National Park.
The number of wild orchids in the South
Downs has dropped drastically during the past 50 years, due to farming. The
orchids are tough to grow due to the size of their dust-like seed, which blows
away in the wind and has even been known to make it across the English Channel,
according to a press report.
The new project sees college students grow
the tiny seeds in a specialist lab in Stanmer Park for the first 18 months to
two years of their life.
The students plan to nurture 500 of each of
the five different types of orchid – the frog orchid, man orchid, heath spotted
orchid, bee orchid and musk orchid.
By Pamela Kelt
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