Dactylorhiza maculata
Dactylorhiza maculata, known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is a herbaceous perennial 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. It prefers woods, moorland, bogs, marshes, pastureland and meadows.
Etymology
The name of the genus Dactylorhiza is formed from the Greek words δάκτυλος 'daktylos' meaning 'finger' and ρίζα 'ridza' meaning 'root' and refers to the tubers of this plant, which are split into several tubercles. The specific epithet 'maculata', meaning 'spotted', refers to the stained leaves, which is also reflected in the English name "Heath spotted Orchid". The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially Orchis maculata, proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The name was changed to the one currently accepted by the Hungarian botanist Károly Rezső Soó in 1962. In German this plant is called Geflecktes Knabenkraut, in French orchis tacheté, and in Italian orchide macchiata or erba d'Adamo. In Swedish this plant is called "Virgin Mary's keys".Description
Dactylorhiza maculata are usually in height, with a maximum of. These plants are tuberous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore these orchids are terrestrial: unlike epiphytes they do not live on 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 tubers, each deeply divided into several lobes or tubercles. The first one has the important function of supplying the stem whilst the second collects nutrients 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 grow in the axils of bracts membranous and lanceolate-shaped. Their colours vary from light pink to purple or white with darker streaks mainly on the labellum. The flowers reach 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. It grows on siliceous and calcareous substrate, at elevations up to above sea level. In Northern Europe it flowers in June-July.Ecology
Orchids in the genus Dactylorhiza are mycorrhizal generalists. D. maculata has been found to form associations with a range of common species of mycorrhizal fungi in the Tulasnellaceae, as well as with species in the Ceratobasidiaceae and Sebacinales.Dactylorhiza maculata is pollinated by insects, especially bumblebees. The flowers are 'food deceptive', i.e. do not provide nectar for their pollinators.
Subspecies
Many names have been proposed for species and varieties in the species. As of September 2024, the following subspecies are accepted:- Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. fuchsii Hyl. – Europe to Siberia and Mongolia
- Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. maculata Soó – Europe to Siberia
- Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. maurusia Soó – Morocco and northern Algeria
- Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. saccifera Diklic – southern Europe and Turkey
- Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. sooana Borsos ex Batoušek – Slovakia
- Dactylorhiza maculata nothosubsp. transiens M.H.J.van der Meer – Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain, and Ireland
Inter-species hybrids