Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes

They appeared there together for several years during the annual firework display at the horse racing course, in July.

While the Hawks with their pilots buzzed the hilltop and generally aeronauted themselves in unbelievably tight circles, rolls, loops and dives to the huge delight of the crowds below, the pyramid orchids stood upright on the ground echoing the shapes of these magnificent men in their flying machines overhead.

I often wonder if I was the only one who noticed this similarity. There are about 26 species of wild orchids growing in Sussex. You never know from year to year whether some are going to be there or not.

They are temperamental plants with very complicated lives. So the list of species that may be present each year varies. Those like the lizard orchid for instance used to be common in one location but has all but disappeared from the county.

About 38 species of orchids have been recorded in the past 100 years but some are long gone. Many orchids hybridise and it is not often clear as to which variant you have before you. But one you can depend upon all along the chalk ridge of the South Downs is the pyramidal orchid.