[112] Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Common Spotted Orchid

[112] Dactylorhiza fuchsia, Common Spotted Orchid

Introduction

Dacrylorhiza fuchsii, the Common Spotted Orchid, is the most common species of Orchid, found all over Europe. It has an attractively patterned flower, which is not spotted!

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Asparagales

Family – Orchidaceae

Subfamily – Orchidoideae

Tribe – Orchideae

Genus – Dactylorhiza

Scientific Name – Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Name

Dactylorhiza is Ancient Greek for finger root and the species epithet is in honour of Leonhart Fuchs (1501-66) also the source of the name [153] Fuchsia.

Description

There are about two thousand species in the Tribe Orchideae, including [020] the Pyramidal Orchid.

There are some rarer species but in Britain the Pyramidal Orchid and Dactylorhiza fuchsia are the common ones. The Common Spotted Orchid the most common. Its attractive flowers are more cylindrical than the Pyramidal and about twice the size. They are usually white with purple markings but other varieties are available.

Habitat and use

The Common Spotted Orchid is widespread across Europe and parts of Asia. They are found in woodland and open country.

Cultivated versions are available.

Other Notes

Until I started writing this post, I always assumed that the flower of this species was called spotted. But the name come from its leaves. I don’t even look at the leaves of a plant with such an impressive flower but I was able to crop and enlarge some of my pictures and found these.

I see them in the same sorts of places as the Pyramidal Orchid where they are always more common – open land in nature reserves and commons.

[020] Anacamptis pyramidalis, Pyramidal Orchid

[020] Anacamptis pyramidalis, Pyramidal Orchid

Introduction

Anacamptis pyramidalis, the Pyramidal Orchid, is a relatively common British Orchid found on open grassland such as Commons. It is a small, perennial, monocot plant with a purple inflorescence shaped like a broad pyramid. (Mathematically it is more like a cone but not far from a pyramid.)

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Flowering Plants

Order – Asparagales

Family – Orchidaceae

Genus – Anacamptis

Scientific Name – Anacamptis pyramidalis

Name

The word ‘orchid’ comes via new Latin from Ancient Greek ‘orchis’ meaning testicle, apparently from the shape of the roots. This word replaced the Middle English ‘ballockwort,’ with similar etymology.

Anacamptis comes from the Greek for ‘bend forward’ and the Latin ‘pyramidalis’ refers to the shape. Taxonomists are never afraid to mix up Greek and Latin.

Orchids

The Orchid family, Orchidaceae is very widespread and diverse. They can be found almost everywhere and in all habitats. It is the second largest family of Flowering Plants (after the Asters) and has about 10% of the total species. About a third of the monocot species are Orchids.

Many Orchids are cultivated and there are about 100 000 hybrid and cultivar varieties.

They may have one or more erect stems, sometimes quite tall, that bear flowers and then die back.

Pyramidal Orchid

The Pyramidal Orchid grows to about twenty centimetres and is unnoticed in surrounding vegetation apart from its flower stem. About fifty to a hundred flowers make up the pyramidal shape, generally coloured from pink to purple, sometimes almost white.

Habitat and use

The Pyramidal orchid is native to much of Europe and Asia and is found in open meadows and grassland. It is now common in Britain in roadside verges and is very common on the Isle of Wight.

Other Notes

Unlike the related Common Spotted Orchid this flower seems to grow as an isolated single plant.

See also

Is relative [112] the Common Spotted Orchid is much more common and often both appear at the same location.