Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. cruenta, (O. F. Mueller) P. D. Sell, 1967

D. M. Moore (ed.), 1980, CCIII Orchidaceae, Flora Europaea, Vol 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae, Camebridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 325-350 : 334

(d) Subsp. cruenta (O. F. Mueller) P. D. Sell ,

Watsonia 6: 317 (1967) ( Dactylorhiza cruenta O. F. Mueller ):

Stems 12-30 cm. Leaves erecto-patent or gradually arcuate-patent, not cucullate, usually with dark spots on both surfaces. Flowers purple, often streaked with red. 2n=40.

N. & E. Europe; Alps.

Variants with brownish-purple spots on the leaves occur sporadically in N. & C. Europe and have been named subsp. haematodes (Reichenb. fil.) Soö, Nom. Nov. Gen. Dactylorhiza 4 (1962). Variants with 3-4 narrowly lanceolate leaves 1 - 1 -5 cm, slender stem and few-flowered racemes have been named subsp. serotina (Hausskn.) Soö & D. Moresby Moore, Bot. Jour. Linn. Soc. 76: 367 (1978), ( O. incarnata var. borealis Neuman , var. dunensis Druce , var. cambrica Pugsley ). They occur sporadically throughout W., N. & N. C. Europe. Variants with yellowish- white flowers have been named subsp. ochroleuca (Boll) P. F. Hunt & Summerhayes, Watsonia 6: 130 (1965); they occur sporadically throughout a large part of the range of the species.