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Bee orchid (Ophrys apifera var. flavescens)

Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)

White helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium)

As we enter the warmer months of the year, our wildflower gardens and other naturalised areas are starting to bloom.

You may have started to spot small orange flags popping up around campus, especially in and around grassy areas. These are locations which have been identified as containing rare species of orchids, which are marked for preservation to allow them to grow unimpeded and to help Sussex develop as an iconic green space.

Our campus is home to a variety of rare orchids, some of which are pictured here, and each year the Estates (SEF) Grounds team surveys the University to identify any new areas or species that have developed.

If you do spot any orchids that haven’t been flagged, please let us know by sending an e-mail to the Service Centre (ideally with a photo!), with the location included, so we can flag the area as an orchid site.

Our green campus sits within the unique Brighton and Lewes Downs biosphere, also known as “The Living Coast”, which is a designated UNESCO World Biosphere Region and enjoys a wide variety of plantlife growing upon chalk grasslands, dry chalk valleys, and floodplain meadows.

Learn more about biodiversity at Sussex, and how we're working towards becoming one of the most sustainable universities in the world.