Britain’s rarest ghost orchid rediscovered for first time in 15 years | BBC News

One of Britain’s rarest plants has been discovered in the wild for the first time since 2009.

The plant is a ghost orchid – a rare flower with no leaves or chlorophyll – the green pigment that absorbs sunlight so that plants can turn it into energy.

Unlike most plants, the orchid doesn’t need sunlight, instead, it feeds on nutrients from fungi underground.

Its location in England is being kept secret to protect the orchid from being squashed by flower tourists who want to look at it or being stolen by a plant poacher.

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