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''Dactylorhiza maculata'', known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is an herbaceous
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''Dactylorhiza maculata'' are usually in height, with a maximum of . These plants are bulbous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers or bulbs, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore these orchids are terrestrial: unlike epiphytes they do not live on other large plants.
This orchid has an erect, glabrous and cylindrical stem, with a streaked surface. The leaves are oblong or oval-lanceolate, with dark ellipsoid-shaped spots on the surface (hence the species name). The leaves are amplexicaul and can be either radical (basal) or
cauline.
The underground part of the stem has two webbed tubers, each deeply divided into several lobes or tubercles (characteristic of the genus ''Dactylorhiza''). The first one has the important function of supplying the stem whilst the second collects nutrients for the development of the plant that will form in the coming year.
The inflorescence is long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense spikes. The flowers grow in the axils of bracts membranous and lanceolate-shaped. Their colours vary from light pink to purple or white with darker streaks mainly on the labellum (sometimes at the margins of tepals). The flowers reach on average . The flowers are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated.
Nordic Journal of Botany - Pollination and Reproductive Success of Two Colour Variants of a Deceptive Orchid, ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' (Orchidaceae)
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File:Orchidaceae - Dactylorhiza maculata-1.JPG, Flowers
File:Orchidaceae - Dactylorhiza maculata-2.JPG, Close-up on inflorescence
File:Dactylorhiza maculata in a garden.jpg, Inflorescence
File:Dactylorhiza maculata LC0233.jpg, Inflorescence
File:Dactylorhiza maculata20090812 084.jpg, Fruits
File:Dactylorhiza maculata20090914 071.jpg, The tubers are split into several tubercles, hence the name Dactylorhiza
File:Orchidaceae - Dactylorhiza maculata-4.JPG, The stained leaf, hence the name "maculata" meaning =spotted
Den virtuella floran - Distribution
Biolib
''Dactylorhiza maculata''
Manfred Hennecke
{{Taxonbar, from=Q737615 maculata Plants described in 1753 Orchids of Europe Orchids of Russia Flora of Siberia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
plant of the family Orchidaceae
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
. It is widespread in mountainous regions across much of Europe from Portugal and Iceland east to Russia. It is also found in Algeria, Morocco, and western Siberia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families/ref>
Etymology
The name of the genus ''Dactylorhiza'' is formed from the Greek words δάκτυλος 'daktylos' meaning 'finger' and ρίζα 'ridza' meaning 'root' and refers to the tubers of this plant, which are split into several tubercles. The specific epithet 'maculata', meaning 'spotted', refers to the stained leaves. The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially ''Orchis maculata'', proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanistCarl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
in 1753. The name was changed to the one currently accepted (''Dactylorhiza maculata'') by the Hungarian botanist Károly Rezső Soó in 1962. In German this plant is called ''Geflecktes Knabenkraut'', in French ''orchis tacheté'', and in Italian ''orchide macchiata'' or ''erba d'Adamo''.
Description
''Dactylorhiza maculata'' are usually in height, with a maximum of . These plants are bulbous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers or bulbs, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore these orchids are terrestrial: unlike epiphytes they do not live on other large plants.
This orchid has an erect, glabrous and cylindrical stem, with a streaked surface. The leaves are oblong or oval-lanceolate, with dark ellipsoid-shaped spots on the surface (hence the species name). The leaves are amplexicaul and can be either radical (basal) or
cauline.
The underground part of the stem has two webbed tubers, each deeply divided into several lobes or tubercles (characteristic of the genus ''Dactylorhiza''). The first one has the important function of supplying the stem whilst the second collects nutrients for the development of the plant that will form in the coming year.
The inflorescence is long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense spikes. The flowers grow in the axils of bracts membranous and lanceolate-shaped. Their colours vary from light pink to purple or white with darker streaks mainly on the labellum (sometimes at the margins of tepals). The flowers reach on average . The flowers are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated.
Habitat
The heath spotted orchid prefers sunny places on lowlands or hills. It can be found in slightly damp meadows but also in the undergrowth of dry forests, in areas with bushes and at the edges of streams. It grows on siliceous and calcareous substrate, at an altitude up to above sea level.Ecology
Orchids in the genus ''Dactylorhiza'' are mycorrhizal generalists. ''D. maculata'' has been found to form associations with a range of common species ofmycorrhizal fungi
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the pla ...
in the Tulasnellaceae
The Tulasnellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the " jelly fungi" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, but ...
, as well as with species in the Ceratobasidiaceae and Sebacinales
The Sebacinales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Taxa have a widespread distribution and are mostly terrestrial, many forming mycorrhizas with a wide variety of plants, including orchids
Orchids are plants that belong to ...
.
''Dactylorhiza maculata'' is pollinated by insects, especially bumblebees. The flowers are 'food deceptive', i.e. do not provide nectar for their pollinators./ref>
Subspecies
Many names have been proposed for species and varieties in the species. As of June 2014, the following are accepted: # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''maculata'' (L.) Soó - most of species range # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''battandieri'' (Raynaud) H.Baumann & Künkele (1988) - Algeria # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''caramulensis'' Verm. (1970) - France, Spain, Portugal # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''elodes'' (Griseb.) Soó (1962) - much of Europe from Portugal and Iceland east to European Russia # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''ericetorum'' (E.F.Linton) P.F.Hunt & Summerh. (1965) - British Isles, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''islandica'' (Á.Löve & D.Löve) Soó (1962) - Iceland # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''podesta'' (Landwehr) Kreutz in C.A.J.Kreutz & H.Dekker (2000) - Netherlands # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''savogiensis'' (D.Tyteca & Gathoye) Kreutz (2004) - France, Spain, Italy # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''schurii'' (Klinge) Soó (1967) - Romania, Ukraine # ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''transsilvanica'' (Schur) Soó (1962) - Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Czech RepublicGallery
References
* Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 voll.) - Edagricole - 1982 * Tutin, T.G. et al. - Flora Europaea, second edition - 1993External links
Den virtuella floran - Distribution
Biolib
''Dactylorhiza maculata''
Manfred Hennecke
{{Taxonbar, from=Q737615 maculata Plants described in 1753 Orchids of Europe Orchids of Russia Flora of Siberia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus