ORCHIDACEAE
Dactylorhiza Necker ex Neviski, in Komarov, Fl. URSS 4: 697, 713 (1935).
By: Lokesh R. Shakya
Taxon Description
Plants terrestrial, small to large. Tubers palmately divided, fleshy, roots arising from neck. Stem erect, with tubular basal sheaths, with leaves throughout. Inflorescence cylindric, mostly densely flowered; floral bracts leaf-like, more or less exceeding the ovary. Flowers rose-purple, yellowish, rarely white. Sepals free; dorsal sepal erect, forming a loose hood with the petals; lateral sepals spreading. Lip simple, entire or 3-lobed, spurred, with darker dots or streaks. Column short, stout; anther erect, adnate to apex of column, with 2 parallel locules; pollinia 2, granular, sectile, each with caudicle and viscidium.
Taxon Statistics
Worldwide about 50 species, distributed in Subarctic & Temp. Northern Hemisphere. One species in Nepal.
1. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo, Nom. Nova. Gen. Dactylorhiza: 4 (1962).
Orchis hatagirea D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal.: 23 (1825).
Plants 30–60 cm tall. Tubers divided into 3–5 finger-like lobes. Stem robust, leafy throughout, with 2 or 3 tubular basal sheaths. Leaves 3–6, subopposite near base of stem and alternate above, oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 12–17 X 2.5–3.5 cm, acute or obtuse, sheathing base. Inflorescence 12–20 cm, cylindric, densely many-flowered. Sterile bracts absent. Fertile bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm, exceeding the flowers gradually becoming smaller higher up. Flowers rose-purple, ca. 1.6 cm across. Pedicel and ovary 8–14 mm. Dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, 5–7 X 3–4 mm, obtuse, 3-veined, forming a hood with the petals. Lateral sepals ovate-lanceolate, subfalcate, 6–8(–10) X 4–5 mm, spreading, obtuse 3–5 veined. Petals erect, ovate-lanceolate, subfalcate, 5–7 X 3–5 mm, 3-veined, obtuse. Lip adnate to the column, deltoid or orbicular or even obscurely 3-lobed, turning downwards, 6–9 X 6–10 mm, crenate, pink spotted; spur pendulous, straight, cylindric, nearly as long as the ovary, 12 mm.
Distribution: Nepal, W Himalaya, E Himalaya and South West Tibet.
Altitudinal range: 3000-4000 m.
Ecology: Open grassland.
Flowering: June – August.