Common name:
Heath spotted orchid
Family:
Scientific name:
Dactylorhiza maculata
Main flower color:
Range:
Most of the UK; absent only from parts of central and east England
Height:
Up to 50 cm
Habitat:
Bogs, heaths, moist grasslands, mostly on acidic soils
Flowers:
Three equal-size, spreading sepals, the inner positioned close to the upper two petals, and a shallowly three-lobed lower petal, the middle lobe small and pointed, the side lobes much broader. The petal is marked with loops of purple lines or spots. Flowers are subtended by narrow, leaf-like bracts, about equal in length to the stalk. Petals and sepals are pale pink, sometimes almost white
Leaves:
Lanceolate, marked with circular purple spots; broad at the base, much narrower up the stem
Season:
May to August
Rarity:
★★★★★
