# 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.

- **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.

## About

Dactylorhiza fuchsii , the common spotted orchid , is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/2b0319e7-4d36-4842-a853-a594a24a81e8
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57630
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylorhiza fuchsii
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/134886433/medium.jpg (Павлик Лисицын, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.