Mature plant varying from 30-70cm in height. Leaves six to ten, linear to lanceolate or narrowly ovate. Raceme to 20cm long. Flowers violet-purple rarely pink, about 2cm wide, the labellum slightly longer than wide and the spur swollen-cylindrical. North Africa in wet meadows and marshes. D.e. subsp. sesquipidalis is more robust with longer flower spikes and longer flowers having usually more rounded lips and cylindrical spurs. South-western Europe.
a, D. elata; b, D. foliosa; c, D. fuchsii; d, D. iberica; e, D. maculata; f, D. sambucina; g, D. sulphurea; h, D. traunsteineri;
