"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
...
I've just come back from friends on the Wirral. As we were walking back to
the station, there was a plant on the embankment that I didn't recognise.
It was between 8" and 10" in height and I don't recall seeing any leaves.
It had a thin stem and was crowned with a spire of between 15 and 20
smallish (about ½") white flowers with deep purple spots. The 'eye' was
dark. The wife asked me was it an orchid as the flowers were certainly
orchid-like, but I don't know of any member of the orchidae family with
more than one flower to a stem.

Sorry for the poor description but can anyone identify it?

The wife was probably right.

There are about 40-60 orchid species native/wild in the UK and many have
small spikes of about 10-20 small flowers.
They look like miniature "shop" orchid flowers, usually with a large lower
"petal" or labellum.
They usually do have a rosette of leaves at the base of the stem.


Thanks

Sarah