The smell of cloves

My objective on this morning's walk with the spaniel was to find the Marsh Fragrant Orchid. Despite its name the MFO can sometimes be found on chalk grassland. I know it grows at Ditchling Beacon but I didn't want to go that far so I had a good look around Blackcap where, on almost impossibly steep slopes, I found half a dozen or so of these wonderful orchids. They look very similar to the Chalk Fragrant but the fragrance is completely different. Where Chalk Fragrants have a perfumed soap smell the Marsh Fragrant has an overwhelming smell of cloves. Indeed it is so intense that I think we should say that cloves smell of Marsh Fragrant Orchid rather than the other way round. The rest of the walk was notable for the profusion of butterflies in Ashcombe Bottom where they are sheltered from the strong winds. I counted 17 different species.