First Church Meadow

Entrance

First Church meadow is the "jewel" of the three meadows. This general view taken in May shows how rich the meadow is in both species and numbers. In this photo the pink flowers are Orchids, the yellow are Cowslips and the broad leaves are those of Colchicums.













The Colchicum (Colchicum autumnale) could be regarded as the particular flower of the reserve because of the large number of plants that grow at Martins' Meadows. These plants were once formerly frequent (and locally abundant) in parts of Suffolk but are now very local or rare although they are a well known horticultural plant. They have many common names including "Autumn Crocus", "Meadow Saffron" and "Naked Ladies".

	In fact they are members of the lily family and unrelated to the crocus or saffron. In May it is possible to find the seed pods in the centre of the clusters of leaves. By Summer the seeds will have been shed and the leaves die back and then, in September, the pink or white flowers emerge without any further green vegetative growth and hence the name "Naked Ladies"! It is the original source of the drug colchicine which is used in the treatment of gout. Sir Theodore Mayerne is said to have dosed King James I with Colchicum and the powder of unburied skulls. All parts of the plant are highly poisonous but fortunately the leaves will have withered and died back when the hay is taken in mid July so there is no danger to animals feeding on the hay.
Colchicum leaves and seed pod		Colchicum flowers

If you are visiting in the spring then one of the first orchids you will come across in any of the meadows will be the Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio).
This orchid gets its name from the green veins that show on the upper sepals.
The leaves are unspotted and the flower colour varies from a deep purple to a pure white as in this photo where the veins are even more clearly visible.
These orchids occur in all three meadows but are found in the most profusion here.
Just why this orchid is more widespread over the meadows than the two other frequently occurring ones (the Early purple Orchid and the Pyramidal Orchid) is uncertain. Green-winged orchids appear to be more tolerant of wetter conditions but a survey of the levels (see the soil survey worksheet) does not indicate that the other two species are growing in areas that are lower lying and therefore wetter.
V.S. Summerhayes in the "Wild Orchids of Britain" says that the development of the aerial stages of this orchid from seed germination is much faster than the other two so it could be that the Green-Winged Orchid isn't so dependant on the soil fungi or mycorrhiza so may well be able to establish more easily

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