Broad-leaved marsh orchid

About

Dactylorhiza majalis is one of the most noticeable wild orchids of the Carpathians. In Ukraine, they grow in the Carpathians and Precarpathians, as well as in forest and forest-steppe zones, very rarely in the steppe and in the Mountain Crimea. In the mountains, they can be found in moist and marshy meadows, on acidic poor soils with low nitrogen.

The plant is 15–40 cm tall, sometimes up to 60 cm, with a hollow stem. There are four to ten leaves, which are oval or lanceolate, 6–18 cm long, most often covered with purple or burgundy spots. At the top is a dense spike of pink-purple flowers with a darker pattern on the lip. Flowering begins in May in the valleys and lasts until the end of July in the high mountains. Underground, there are finger-like tubers, which is where the genus name 'Dactylorhiza' comes from.

Like other orchids, Dactylorhiza majalis is vulnerable: they require nitrogen-poor moist meadows, so drainage and fertilization of meadows are detrimental to them, and a picked flower will not produce seeds.

Dactylorhiza majalis is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine with the status 'rare', so picking and digging them up is prohibited. All orchids are also included in Appendix II of the CITES convention, which restricts trade in them. We do not publish exact locations where they grow — only regions. Admire, photograph, but do not step off the path in moist meadows to avoid trampling young plants.

Where in the Carpathians

The map shows where naturalists recorded the species (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY records), not every place it lives. The Ukrainian Carpathians are less studied, so a blank area does not mean the species is absent. For rare and vulnerable species the map is deliberately coarse (hexagons of ~250 km² or more) so that it never points to dens, nests or growing sites.

Countries

Slovakia · Czechia · Ukraine · Poland · Romania · Hungary

Mountain ranges

Low Tatras, Slovak Ore Mountains, Greater Fatra, Lesser Fatra, Moravian-Silesian Beskids, Kysuce Beskids, Strážov Mountains, Slovak Paradise, White Carpathians, Żywiec Beskids

Altitude belts

Foothills (below 600 m) · Beech forests (600–1200 m)

When to see it

From naturalists’ observations in the Carpathians (iNaturalist, research grade): the darker the cell, the more often the species is seen that month.

Look-alikes — how to tell them apart

Protection and rules

Listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (rare); all orchids are in Appendix II of CITES. Admire, picking and digging up is prohibited. Exact locations are not published.

Admire, don’t pick: plants listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine — and any plants in nature reserves and strictly protected zones of national parks — must not be collected.

Red Data Book of Ukraine

FAQ