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Along the verges of forest roads we will find quite a number of flowering orchids now. Kaido photographed them in the Kakerdaja bog. If you do not recognize the species then nearly everyone can photograph them with the mobile and try to identify them at home. It is worthwhile to note the particular characteristics.

 

As habitat the spotted orchids prefer boggier sparse forests and meadows, in too dry locations they will not be found. It is one of our commonest orchids. The leaves are a couple of centimetres broad at the widest point, with a silvery colour on the underside. On the leaves we find the characteristic specks or spots, but they can be missing altogether. The flowers of the spotted orchid are quite similar to the flowers of the heath spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata) as are the habitats, and so hybrids with intermediate characteristics have emerged in such places.

 

All our orchid species are protected by law and the prohibition against picking is completely motivated:

When the seeds of the common spotted orchid come into suitable soil, the plant will show its first green leaves in 3-4 years and flowers for the first time at 5-9 years. Sometimes the plant rests from flowering for up to a couple of years; then it does not grow the sub-soil root tubers nor leaves – the plants develop at the expense of the mycorrhiza in order to start flowering again in the following years. We can expect so-called good flowering years for orchids in a year following a rainy summer.

 

Common spotted orchid at gravel road verge