Early purple orchid
Orchis mascula
Family · Orchidaceae · Harmless
The purple orchid of mountain clearings and wet meadows, among the first to flower and the showiest in the Peninsula. The basal leaves often carry dark spots, which give it away before the spike opens.
Oak woods · Uplands · Fields and pasture
Also known asearly purple orchis, adder's grass
How to tell it
A loose spike of purple or carmine-pink flowers, with a three-lobed lip dotted dark in the centre and a thick upturned spur. Basal leaves in a rosette, often with dark brown spots. The stem is often reddish at the top.
What it is confused with
Pyramidal orchid
Anacamptis pyramidalis
Pyramidal orchid has small, tightly packed flowers in a pyramid and a clean three-lobed lip with equal lobes; early purple orchid has larger, looser flowers with a dark-spotted lip and often blotched basal leaves.
Open sheet →What it is for
None to encourage. The tubers of this and other orchids were the raw material of salep, a hot drink of the Middle East and Balkans, and that harvest drove whole populations to local extinction. It is the best reason never to dig up an orchid.
The law says
Protected by CITES and national law, like all wild orchids. Do not pick it or dig up the tuber.