92 THE MUSIC OF WILD FLOWERS 



St Aldhelm was erected. It will be sought for in vain 

 elsewhere in Dorset, or in the adjoining counties, but 

 here, in the vicinity of the Norman chapel, and among 

 the Purbeck marble quarries towards Durlston Head, 

 it has made its home. When the spider-orchis is past 

 its prime, it is succeeded by the bee-orchis and the 

 pyramidal orchis, and when these two are gone, and the 

 summer is drawing to a close, and the wheat ears are 

 collecting on the downs, then the delicate Spiranthes 

 autumnalis, Rich., known as lady's-tresses, will make 

 its appearance. Last autumn, as I stood on the turf 

 beside St Aldhelm 's Chapel, it was scattered over the 

 downs, as if to cheer with its exquisite spiral blossoms 

 the departing summer. 



