- Dec 24, 2014
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Found a couple of clumps of these in remote and rough ancient pasture beside a chalk pit on the South Downs today. About 12 to 15cm high. 5 or 6 flowers growing from single unbranching stems. Each flower had a 'mouth' rather like an antirrhinum flower with a long pointed 'chin'. Never seen them before in all my 40 years of walking and plant identification on the South Downs.
The nearest I can find in my Keble-Martin 'Concise British Flora' and Roger Philips 'Wild Flowers of Britain' identification guides is the apparently very rare Musk Orchid (Herminium Monarchis). However, they are listed as flowering in June - July although these did seem to be at the end of their flowering period as there were old flowers running to seed on the same stem below them.
The nearest I can find in my Keble-Martin 'Concise British Flora' and Roger Philips 'Wild Flowers of Britain' identification guides is the apparently very rare Musk Orchid (Herminium Monarchis). However, they are listed as flowering in June - July although these did seem to be at the end of their flowering period as there were old flowers running to seed on the same stem below them.