Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Orchis simia |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Lam. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Though always rare, it has had a long presence in England, and some sites have been lost. Populations remain small, localised and vulnerable. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The small size of populations, and vulnerability to habitat management change (e.g. height/density of sward) make targeted action necessary. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 8. Species recovering |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Past/recent management leading to population increases suggest SRC step 8 is probably the blocker. Though naturally rare, there has been past success with reintroductions and with habitat management, suggesting actions would be effective. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Consider site protection options at all three known sites, to adequately protected against deliberate damage or loss.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Site protection
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Kent
Comments: Of the three known sites (two natural, one a deliberate introduction), two are SSSI (one natural site, one reintroduction site). At the third site, where the species was (re)found in 1955, there is no formal protection or management. While this site is currently being managed by volunteers and a neighbouring farmer, and some 203 plants were counted in 2023, its long-term future is far from assured. A duration of 3-5 years is given, as it is likely that a protracted period of negotiation will be necessary.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Establish a central record of annual population counts (where appropriate and if possible separated into counts of flowering and non-flowering plants) together with a record of annual management for each of the three known populations, and ensure that this information is shared between the managers of each site. Use this to compile a periodically-reviewed dossier on the species and recommendations for its management.
Action targets: 8. Species recovering
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Kent
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Identify 3 to 5 sites within the species' former range which are suitable (in terms of geology/soils/aspect/management) for the species' introduction, and sow with seed from the nearest existing site.
Action targets: 8. Species recovering
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Kent
Comments: It is possible that seed may spread naturally from current UK, or continental, populations, but this is far from assured. The existing English sites are all limited in extent and isolated, so that achievement of any increase in the number of locations and the likelihood of the total number of plants regularly reaching a total of substantially over 1000 (both of which would be necessary to move the species to the NT category) is almost certain to require deliberate introductions. Duration of action reflects the likely period of 7 years between germination and first flowering.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.