Dactylorhiza traunsteineroides - Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid (Orchidaceae)

Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid

The 'ragged'-looking head with a few large flowers, and the two or three long narrow leaves growing from the base are clues to the identification of this confusing orchid.

 

Notoriously difficult to indentify this orchid is often confused with small specimens of other orchids such as the Heath Spotted-orchid which favours the same habitat.

A closeup picture of Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid

A small infloresence with a few large flowers characterises this orchid.

 

A more slender and delicate-looking plant than most other marsh-orchids the Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid grows on calcareous marshes and wet meadows.

In Wales these orchids grow in the Anglesey Fens National Nature Reserves.

The specimens on this page were photographed in The Burren in Ireland in June.

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