DACTYLORHIZA MACULATA : The Heath Spotted Orchid

Resides in poor unimproved acid or neutral grassland always in the presence of purple moor grass, molinea caerulea, which is deciduous. Tetraploid genetic structure could represent a storeage strategy. Blooms in June or July. Becoming very rare due to loss of habitat. North Wiltshire, UK, 1998. Occurs in drifts. Ground waterlogged in winter. By comparison with the commom spotted orchid the flowers are paler and larger, a dense cluster of flakes and the basal rosette is flatter with larger and less pronounced spotting. With exceptions - leopard pattern or no spots. Hybridises freely with commomon spotted. This specimen is young. Older plants have a longer more tubular flower spike with many more flowers.