Scientific name: Dactylorhiza majalis var. brevifolia (Rchb. f.) Kreutz
Common name: Northern marsh-orchid
Description
Habit: Robust, often thickset, 10-40cm high.
Leaves: 4-8 cauline leaves, usually found at base of stem, unspotted or finely spotted on upper half of leaves, oblong-lanceolate, slightly keeled, broadest in centre, uppermost 1-2 leaves sometimes bract-like, sometimes hooded.
Flowers: Inflorescence dense, ovoid to near cylindrical; 10-30 bright pale purple to deep blackish-purple flowers present; lateral sepals oval, rarely spotted, spreading to vertically erect, tip reflexed; dorsal sepal and petal forming a hood; labellum entire, more or less rhombic to orbicular, flat, base and centre very broad with diffuse purple to deep carmine streaks and broken lines that form irregular and incomplete loops; lateral lobes almost flat, margins flexed forward, central lobe poorly developed; spur conical to near cylindrical.
Habitat: Sand dunes, dune slacks, pastures and meadows, eskers, pavement and quarries and marshes, fens and lakeshores.
Distribution: Scattered along the east and south coast. More common in the north of the island.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No
Variation: The leaf markings are variable, as well as the shades of purple of the flowers.