Dactylorhiza ID

[o_alba]

Hi all,

I'm after some help identifying some Dactylorhiza I found in the summer please. They were found by an old railwayline in Derbyshire which is an area I'm not florally in touch with!

The first I can ID as D.fuchsii, but the others are more difficult. Orchids 2 and 3 look like hybrids to me, given the spotted leaves and orchid 4 I think is D.praetermissa. Could no.5 be D.purpurella? I suggest this given the diamond shaped lip and square topped spike but I am totally unfamiliar with this species and would appreciate help from someone who is!

Many thanks

Alexander

no1.

no2.

no2 -leaves.

no3.

no3 -leaves.

no4.

no4 -leaves.

no5.

no5 -leaves.

[ceterach]

Hi Alexander
Since no-one else has, I will rush in where...........

Originally Posted by o_alba

Hi all,
They were found by an old railwayline in Derbyshire which is an area I'm not florally in touch with!

What a great way of putting it. With Dactylorhizas you definitely have to be in touch with the site!! I suspect you are correct with all of them but.....

Originally Posted by o_alba

The first I can ID as D.fuchsii, but the others are more difficult. Orchids 2 and 3 look like hybrids to me, given the spotted leaves and orchid 4 I think is D.praetermissa. Could no.5 be D.purpurella? I suggest this given the diamond shaped lip and square topped spike but I am totally unfamiliar with this species and would appreciate help from someone who is!

No. 1 certainly looks like D.fuchsii.
Nos 2,3 and 4 are absolute classics, all the appearance of D.praetermissa but two have spotted leaves and the last doesn't. You pays your money and takes your choice, all three could be hybrids.

No 5 certainly looks like D.pupurella which is found as far south as Derbyshire.

I found a very similar mixed population on a roadside in Yorkshire some years ago and ended up labelling most of them as Dactylorhiza hybrids. Short of doing DNA analysis I supect this is the best you can do in many cases. There are well described populations of hybrids where neither parent species can be found so....

All the best

[o_alba]

Cheers John, thanks for your help.

Dactylorhiza is definately an odd group of flowers. There is a big hybrid swarm close to my house which appears to have fuchsii, incarnata, praetermissa and everything in between... apparently though, according to DNA analysis, only the first two and their hybrids occur there. Confusing!

thanks
Alexander

[galanthophile]

Those are gorgeous. There is a wild population near where I live in meadows near a lake and there are many different types and colours. A real joy to see in the summertime.