Some dactylorhizas will give you a hard time when it comes to identification, as each species varies and hybrids are common. In some regions, these hybrids may even outnumber the type species. Observing dactylorhizas is yet another demonstration that certain specialists tend to split and name what are sometimes merely varieties. Evolution is indeed underway, but it will not occur within the timescale of our present humanity. Patience!

I will therefore present only a few species, those whose identification remains certain.

Dactylorhiza praetermissa grows in varied terrains but always in moist conditions, and less readily in fallow land. Its labellum is rather flat, its leaves are rarely spotted, but the variation in labellum colours does not make diagnosis easy. (There is no point in checking whether the stem is hollow, as has sometimes been suggested for identification purposes, since dactylorhizas often have this characteristic; it would be a rather pointless sacrifice.)

It flowers between May and July, depending on the habitat. It is mainly found in northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Notably, in Newfoundland the plant was introduced “successfully” and is now considered invasive.