Dactylorhiza fuchsii

'Common Spotted-orchid'

[Ex. Co. Durham, England]

Orchidaceae: orchid of grassland and open woods on calcareous or neutral soils. Flowers vary in colour from pale pink to pinkish purple, with darker streaks and spots on the lower lip, in open spikes from May-August. The leaves are green with dark spots. Locally common, probably the most common wild orchid in the UK. Native to W. Europe in Britain and France, north through Germany and Belgium to Scandinavia.

USES:

The root can be cooked. This species is a major source of 'salep', a fine white to yellowish-white powder that is obtained by drying the tuber and grinding it into a powder. Salep is a starch-like substance with a sweetish taste and a faint somewhat unpleasant smell. It is said to be very nutritious and is made into a drink or can be added to cereals and used in making bread. One ounce of salep is said to be enough to sustain a person for a day.

Salep has nutritive and demulcent properties. It has been used as a diet of special value for children and convalescents, being boiled with water, flavoured and prepared in the same way as arrowroot. Rich in mucilage, it forms a soothing and demulcent jelly that is used in the treatment of irritations of the gastro-intestinal canal. One part of salep to fifty parts of water is sufficient to make a jelly. The tuber, from which salep is prepared, should be harvested as the plant dies down after flowering and setting seed.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Prefers a sunny position and a good loamy soil. Requires a deep rich soil. I have one that’s a few years old now, it grows happily in a 10” clay pot that stands outside all year round, and it makes a nice clump after a few years. Surface sow seeds, preferably as soon as it is ripe, in the greenhouse and do not allow the compost to dry out. The seed of this species is extremely simple, it has a minute embryo surrounded by a single layer of protective cells. It contains very little food reserves and depends upon a symbiotic relationship with a species of soil-dwelling fungus. The fungal hyphae invade the seed and enter the cells of the embryo. The orchid soon begins to digest the fungal tissue and this acts as a food supply for the plant until it is able to obtain nutrients from decaying material in the soil. It is best to use some of the soil that is growing around established plants in order to introduce the fungus, or to sow the seed around a plant of the same species and allow the seedlings to grow on until they are large enough to move.

Growing orchids from seed isn’t easy, or quick, unless you’re an expert this process will be completely experimental. And you may end up with nothing so be warned!

HARVESTED: 2021*

APPROX. 1000+ SEEDS