A RARE orchid has been recorded on a remote Scottish island for the first time.

Irish lady's-tresses, named for its resemblance to plaited hair, is thought to grow at very few sites in the UK and Ireland, meaning the discovery of around 160 plants on Oronsay is a significant find.

RSPB Scotland, which has a nature reserve on the island, believes the orchids have probably been lying dormant underground waiting for the right conditions in which to flower.

Volunteer Gill Watts, who found the orchids with her husband Richard, said: "We were actually surveying for marsh fritillary butterflies when we spotted all these white flowering spikes coming out of the ground. We thought at first they might be a more common orchid, but after checking with the RSPB reserve manager, we managed to positively identify them.

"They're amazingly beautiful flowers, with a musky vanilla fragrance. We didn't quite believe what we'd found at first, because we know they're so rare."