Common Spotted Orchid
Dactylorhiza fuchsii
The seeds are so microscopic they contain no food reserves, requiring a specific fungus to 'infect' them and provide nutrients before they can sprout.
- Scientific name
- Dactylorhiza fuchsii
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Asparagales › Orchidaceae › Dactylorhiza
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Calcareous grasslands, roadside verges, dunes, and open deciduous woodlands.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic; relies on mycorrhizal fungi for nutrient uptake during its long seedling stage.
- Range
- United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Siberia, Mongolia
- Size
- Height: 15-60 cm; Flower spike: 5-15 cm long.
- Lifespan
- 10-30 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Agricultural intensification, loss of meadows, and illegal collection for gardens.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Observe without picking or trampling, as wild orchids are often legally protected. Avoid digging up the plant, as it cannot survive without its specific soil fungi.
Dactylorhiza fuchsii , the common spotted orchid , is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae.
Photo: Павлик Лисицын, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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