Dactylorhiza maculata  Dactylorhiza maculata, known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Orchidaceae. It is widespread in mountainous regions across much of Europe from Portugal and Iceland east to Russia. It is also found in Algeria, Morocco, and western Siberia. 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 "maculata" (=spotted) refers to the stained leaves. The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially Orchis maculata, proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl von Linné (1707–1778) in 1753. The name has been subsequently amended to the one currently accepted ("Dactylorhiza maculata"), by the Hungarian botanist Károly Rezső Soó (1903–1980) in 1962. In German this plant is called "Geflecktes Knabenkraut", in French is called "Orchis tacheté", in Italy is called "Orchide macchiata". "Dactylorhiza maculata" reaches on average of height, with a maximum of . These plants are bulbous geophytes, forming their buds in underground tubers or bulbs, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. Furthermore, these orchids are "terrestrial", because unlike "epiphyte" species they do not live at the expense of other large plants. This orchid has an erect, glabrous and cylindrical stem, with a streaked surface. The leaves are oblong or oval-lanceolate, with dark ellipsoid-shaped "spots" on the surface (hence the species name). The leaves are amplexicaul and can be either radical (basal) or  cauline. The underground part of the stem has two webbed tubers each one more or less deeply divided into several lobes or tubercles (characteristic of the genus "Dactylorhiza"), the first one plays the important functions of supplying the stem, while the second one collects nutrient materials for the development of the plant that will form in the coming year.