Heath Spotted Orchid
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Heath Spotted Orchid
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
White Heath Spotted Orchid.
Dactylorhiza maculata, known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Orchidaceae.
Dactylorhiza maculata reaches on average 5.9–17.7 in of heigh. These plants are bulbous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers or bulbs, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore, these orchids are "terrestrial", because unlike "epiphyte" species they do not live at the expense of other large plants.
This orchid has an erect, glabrous and cylindrical stem, with a streaked surface. The leaves are oblong or oval-lanceolate, with dark ellipsoid-shaped "spots" on the surface (hence the species name).
The inflorescence is 2.0–5.9 in long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense spikes. The flowers are placed in the axils of bracts membranous and lanceolate-shaped. Their colors vary from light pink to purple or white with darker streaks mainly on the labellum (sometimes at the margins of tepals). The flowers reach on average 3.9–5.9 in. The flowers are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated, especially by bumblebees. The flowers are 'food deceptive', ie. do not provide nectar to their pollinators.
More flowers one copy paste away in my Gallery at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/flowers
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
June 30th, 2021
Embed
Share
Similar Images
Recently Viewed
