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Dactylorhiza incarnata
Also called Meadow Orchid
Dactylorhiza incarnata, the early marsh-orchid, is a perennial, temperate-climate species of orchid generally found growing in wet meadows, and generally on base-rich soils, up to about 2100m asl. The species occurs widely in Europe and Asia from Portugal and Ireland east to Siberia and Xinjiang.
There are several subspecies and also hybrids, rendering the identification of this species more difficult, but typically, the flowering spike is robust with a hollow stem, 25–60 cm (9.8–24 in) tall, and bearing up to 50 flowers. Plants grow to a height of from 15 to 70 cm (5.9 to 28 in). The 4–7 erect yellowish-green leaves are hooded at the tip. The inflorescence is 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) long, with up to 50 blooms. The labellum appears long and narrow, since its sides are strongly reflexed (folded back). The tip is shallowly three-lobed.
Keyflower · Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. baltica · Dactylorhiza cantabrica · Stately Dactylorhiza · Richly-Leaved Dactylorhiza · Dactylorhiza francis-drucei · Common spotted orchid · Dactylorhiza hatagirea · Dactylorhiza iberica · Flecked Marsh Orchid · Dactylorhiza insularis · Heath spotted orchid
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dactylorhiza incarnata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
