Dactylorhiza maculata, known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is an herbaceousperennial plant of the family Orchidaceae. It is widespread in mountainous regions across much of Europe from Portugal and Iceland east to Russia. It is also found in Algeria, Morocco, and western Siberia.
Etymology
The name of the genus Dactylorhiza is formed from Greekwords δάκτυλος "daktylos" meaning "finger" and ρίζα "rhiza" meaning "root" and refers to the tubers of this plant, that are split into several tubercles. The specific Latin name "maculata" refers to the stained leaves. The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially Orchis maculata, proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl von Linné in 1753. The name has been subsequently amended to the one currently accepted, by the Hungarian botanist Károly Rezső Soó in 1962. In German this plant is called Geflecktes Knabenkraut, in French is called Orchis tacheté, in Italy is called Orchide macchiata.
Description
Dactylorhiza maculata reaches on average of height, with a maximum of. These plants are bulbous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers or bulbs, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore, these orchids are "terrestrial", because unlike "epiphyte" species they do not live at the expense of other large plants. This orchid has an erect, glabrous and cylindrical stem, with a streaked surface. The leaves are oblong or oval-lanceolate, with dark ellipsoid-shaped "spots" on the surface. The leaves are amplexicaul and can be either radical or cauline. The underground part of the stem has two webbed tubers each one more or less deeply divided into several lobes or tubercles, the first one plays the important functions of supplying the stem, while the second one collects nutrient materials for the development of the plant that will form in the coming year. The inflorescence is long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense spikes. The flowers are placed in the axils of bracts membranous and lanceolate-shaped. Their colors vary from light pink to purple or white with darker streaks mainly on the labellum. The flowers reaches on average. The flowers are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated.
Habitat
The heath spotted orchid prefers sunny places on lowlands or hills, it can be found in slightly damp meadows, but also in the undergrowth of dry forests, in areas with bushes and at the edges of streams. They grow on siliceous and calcareous substrate, at an altitude up to above sea level.
