Deer eat this variety of orchid

The next day a wandering doe had swallowed it. That rather annoyed me, although such a thing is as natural as the sun rising through the oak trees every morning here.

But you know how it is, you get to know something and wait for the moment each day when you can see how it is, just like greeting an old friend.

Greater butterfly orchids have always grown on the bank through the woods, facing the rising sun and getting the full warmth of the morning.

I look for the paired leaves which are elliptical, unspotted, shining and just on the ground near the root, each springtime, then wait for the green stem to start pushing upwards, and by mid May can hardly wait for the moment when a ladder of white flowers begins to open.

I suppose the flowers do look like tiny white butterflies.

They look to me more like little white angels with their wings spread out.

These flowers are vanilla scented, and attract moths which are able to drink the nectar down those inch-long spurs which you can see hanging curved behind each flower.

The front of each flower has a pair of white sepals spread out like wings of a dove and below them hang what looks like a long tongue, called the spur. You can hardly see a more graceful plant. But the roe doe just enjoyed it for breakfast.

This is just one of the 80 species of butterfly orchids in the world. About 26 species of orchids grow wild in Sussex, most of them flowering in May and June.

Fly orchids appear with the butterfly orchids and in the same places, that is, deciduous woodlands on the downs. Just the places to find roe deer.

Deer also browse on bee orchids and spotted orchids, but sometimes grazing animals leave them completely alone, it just depends what they have become used to eating.

Pheasants can be a nuisance with orchids, pecking the flowers but leaving them dead on the ground. Sometimes a pheasant will dig up the roots which are like little bulbs.

Years ago orchids were dug for the root, especially that of the early purple, which were mistakenly thought to be aphrodisiac.

The orchis means testicle, since the tubers of these strange plants have that resemblance.

Thousands were brought to London to be sold at Covent Garden, showing how common they all once were, but not any more.

Two million deer now loose in Britain will not help matters I suppose, though the tubers will send up another shoot next year to have another try.