On a rainy, muddy September afternoon in 1982 my wife‑to-be Valerie and I took a walk in the woods in Herefordshire. We stumbled upon Epipogium aphyllum, AKA the ghost orchid (‘Holy grail’ ghost orchid rediscovered in UK for the first time since 2009, 27 August).
We had as much pleasure as finding it in making it a dream come true for Dr Charles Walker, then aged 92, of Herefordshire Botanical Society, who’d lived in hope of ever seeing this plant, by taking him to the site. It had been chewed by slugs and we were allowed to keep the flower, which was subsequently preserved and donated to Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), where hopefully it remains.
The discovery was kept very secret and so as far as I recall it didn’t get a mention in the Guardian at the time. Perhaps you’d like to make up for this 42 years later?
Mark Richards
Leominster, Herefordshire
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