Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Northern Marsh-orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Magairlín corcra
Photos: John Diggin. Bull Island, Co. Dublin

Northern Marsh-orchid
Dactylorhiza purpurella
Magairlín corcra
Family: Orchidaceae

Flowering May - July. Rhizomatous perennial. Native.

Rich deep purple flowers, +/- crimson-streaked, in a dense, cylindrical spike. Lip diamond-shaped, stout spur, spreading outer sepals. Leaves +/- flat, unspotted or small spots only near tip. Stems with very narrow central hollow. Identification confirmed by Ian Denholm (from photographs)

Occurs on dune-slacks, machair, at lake edges and in quarries on neutral to calcareous soils. Mainly in the north, occasional elsewhere in of Ireland

Northern Marsh-orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Magairlín corcra

Northern Marsh-orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Magairlín corcra
Northern Marsh-orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Magairlín corcra

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