Dactylorhiza

Dactylorhiza
Common Spotted Orchid
(Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Orchideae
Subtribe: Orchidinae
Genus: Dactylorhiza
Neck. ex Nevski
Synonyms[1]
  • Satyrium L. 1753, rejected name, not the accepted name Sw. 1800
  • Diplorrhiza Ehrh.
  • Dactylorrhiza Neck., rejected name
  • Satorkis Thouars, illegitimate superfluous name
  • Coeloglossum Hartm.
  • Entaticus Gray, illegitimate superfluous name
  • Streptogyne Rchb.f.
  • Dactylorchis (Klinge) Verm.
  • × Dactyloglossum P.F.Hunt & Summerh.

Dactylorhiza (as named by Necker ex Nevski, 1937), commonly called marsh orchid or spotted orchid,[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). Dactylorhiza were previously classified under Orchis which has two round tubers.[3]

Description

They are hardy tuberous geophytes. In a thickened underground stem, they can store a large amount of water to survive arid conditions. The tuber is flattened and finger-like. The long leaves are lanceolate and, in most species, also speckled. They grow along a rather long stem which reaches a height of 70–90 cm (28–35 in). Leaves higher on the stem are shorter than leaves lower on the stem. The inflorescence, compared to the length of the plant, is rather short. It consists of a compact raceme with 25-50 flowers. These develop from axillary buds. The dominant colors are white and all shades of pink to red, sprinkled with darker speckles.

Taxonomy

Etymology

The name Dactylorhiza is derived from Greek words δάκτυλος "daktylos" (finger) and ρίζα "rhiza" (root), referring to the palmately two- to five-lobed tubers of this genus.

Species

Many species in this genus hybridise so readily that species boundaries themselves are vague, with regular name changes and no clear answers. A few species colonise very well onto fresh industrial wastes such as pulverised fuel ash, where vast hybrid swarms can appear for a decade or more, before ecological succession replaces them.

Early Marsh Orchid
(Dactylorhiza incarnata)
Leopard Marsh Orchid
(Dactylorhiza praetermissa)
This file is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Monday, 25 August 2014.
Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid
(Dactylorhiza majalis)

Hybrids

Dactylorhiza × aschersoniana
Dactylorhiza × braunii

Note : nothosubspecies = a hybrid subspecies; nothovarietas = subvariety.

This list follows the World checklist of monocotyledons,[4] periodically amended from the "Orchid Research Newsletter".[5]

Distribution and habitat

These terrestrial orchids grow in basic soils in wet meadows, bogs, heathland and in areas sparsely populated by trees. They are distributed throughout the subarctic and temperate northern hemisphere. It is found across much of Europe, North Africa and Asia from Portugal and Iceland to Taiwan and Kamchatka, including Russia, Japan, China, Central Asia, the Middle East, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, etc. Inclusion of the widespread frog orchid, often called Coeloglossum viride, into Dactylorhiza as per some recent classifications,[6][7] expands the genus distribution to include Canada and much of the United States.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Dactylorhiza
  2. ↑ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
  3. ↑ Foley, M (2005) Orchids of the British isles. Griffin press Publishing Ltd., Cherltenham, UK ISBN 0-9541916-1-7
  4. ↑ World checklist of monocotyledons.
  5. ↑ Orchid research Newsletter
  6. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Coeloglossum viride
  7. ↑ Bateman, R.M. (2009). Evolutionary classification of European orchids: the crucial importance of maximising explicit evidence and minimising authoritarian speculation. Journal Europäischer Orchideen 41: 243-318. [as Dactylorhiza viridis]

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dactylorhiza.