Rare orchids last seen in 2009 found on Nomura bank’s City rooftop garden
A colony of rare orchids, once thought to be extinct in the UK, have been discovered growing on the rooftop of a Nomura office building in Canada.
The last time the orchids, known as Serapias parviflora, were spotted in the UK was in Cornwall in 2009 and are typically found in the Mediterranean basin and Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal.
There are 15 flowers growing atop the international bank, in its 11th-floor garden, which is the only known colony in the UK.
The orchids were previously discovered at Rame Head in Cornwall in 1989, but disappeared 20 years later, when it was thought to be extinct in the country.
Japanese investment bank Nomura’s rooftop garden at 1 Angel Lane hosts 17 species of bee and 159 species of plant.
While the 15 delicate orchids flower for just a few weeks, it may not be the complete end of the rare species.
The warming climate, ecologists say, will likely push more Mediterranean species to emerge in London – particularly with the popularity of rooftop gardens which have suspended nature above man.