''Dactylorhiza sambucina'', the elder-flowered orchid, is an

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant belonging to the family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

. It is quite common and widespread throughout much of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

east to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The flowers appear in spring and summer, in various colors from yellow to purple.

Etymology

The name of the genus ''Dactylorhiza'' is formed from Greek words δάκτυλος "daktylos" meaning "finger" and ρίζα "rhiza" meaning "root" and refers to the tubers of this plant, that are split into several tubercles. The specific Latin name "sambucina" refers to the smell of ''Elder'' (''

Sambucus nigra ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Viburnaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, and European black elderberry. It grows in ...

'') emanating by some plants of this species. The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially ''Orchis sambucina'', proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1755. The name was subsequently amended to the one currently accepted (''Dactylorhiza sambucina''), by the Hungarian botanist

Károly Rezső Soó Károly () is a common Hungarian male given name. It is also sometimes found as a Hungarian surname. Károly is considered the equivalent of English Karl or Charles (because the Latin Carolus is very close to Károly).Fercsik Erzsébet – Raátz ...

in 1962.

Description

''Dactylorhiza sambucina'' reaches on average in height. These plants are ''bulbous geophytes'' with underground tubers or bulbs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. The leaves are

amplexicaul {{Short pages monitor