The most widespread of the marsh orchids: a tall, hollow-stemmed plant with a dense spike of deep pink flowers and a broad, rounded lip folded back at the edges
Southern marsh orchid — Dactylorhiza praetermissa.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Southern marsh orchid
Native · flowers May–Aug · damp meadows, fens, quarries and clay-pits
Dactylorhiza praetermissa — Orchidaceae
The southern marsh orchid is the commonest and most widespread of the marsh orchids: a tall, stout plant with a dense spike of deep pink to purple flowers, growing in damp meadows and, increasingly, on old quarries and clay-pits. It is easily confused with the common spotted orchid, and the two often hybridise.
How to spot them
- ▸Stout, hollow stem (squeeze the lower stem gently) and a dense spike of deep pink to magenta flowers, 30–50 cm tall and sometimes up to 70 cm
- ▸Leaves are broad, keeled and usually unspotted, though a few plants have ringed spots
- ▸Lip is broad and gently rounded, shallowly lobed and folded back at the edges, unlike the deeply three-lobed lip of the spotted orchids
- ▸Damp meadows, fens, dune slacks and post-industrial land such as quarries, clay-pits and colliery tips
- ▸Look-alikes: common spotted orchid has spotted leaves and a solid stem; early marsh orchid is paler, more salmon-coloured, with narrow hooded leaf tips
How to know it
Confused with its spotted relative, it usually has unmarked leaves and a hollow stem you can feel by pinching the base
Southern marsh orchid — hybrids with the common spotted orchid show faintly spotted leaves.
Not formally described as a distinct species until 1914, having long been muddled with other marsh orchids
Southern marsh orchid — per the Wildlife Trusts.
Tolerates drier ground than its relatives, and often colonises quarries, clay-pits and colliery tips
Southern marsh orchid.
Has vanished from around a fifth of its former range through drainage and agricultural change
Southern marsh orchid — the Wildlife Trusts.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Orchidaceae; the epithet praetermissa means 'overlooked' or 'passed over', apt for a plant long confused with its relatives
- •Native; the Wildlife Trusts call it probably the most widespread and commonest of the marsh orchids
- •Flowers May to July according to the Wildlife Trusts and June to August according to NatureSpot
- •Wildlife Trusts: it tolerates drier conditions than related marsh orchids, and has vanished from about 20 per cent of its former range through agricultural change and wetland drainage
- •It was not described as a separate species until 1914; it had historically been confused with other marsh orchids
- •The lower stem is usually hollow, a good field test against the spotted orchids
- •Hybrids with the common spotted orchid are usually revealed by faintly spotted leaves
- •Not on Schedule 8, but it is an offence under section 13(1)(b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for anyone who is not an authorised person to intentionally uproot any wild plant. Do not dig up wild orchids
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Southern marsh orchid
- NatureSpot — Southern Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa)