1. Mother-in-law always referred to the early purple orchid as the cuckoo flower [Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, August 2004].

2. I grew up in Desborough, Northamptonshire. In the 1920s some old plant names still lingered …
King-finger – Orchis mascula [Robertsbridge, East Sussex, June 2003].

3. Yetminster, Dorset, 1940s: Early purple orchids we called granfer griggles [Orpington, Kent, January 1996].

Image: Synderford, Thorncombe, Dorset; May 2016.