Family: orchids (Orchidaceae)
Flowering time: May–June
Size: 10–30 cm
Habitat: open dry meadows, rocky slopes and forest clearings
The erect stem of the elder-fingered orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina) is leafy with four to seven leaves. The upright stem leaves are without spots. Pale yellow or scarlet-red flowers form a dense egg-shaped inflorescence at the top of the stem. The honey-coloured lip is inconspicuously trilobed. The upward-curving, beak-like spur is thick. It is 3–4 mm wide and 12–15 mm long. The flowers smell of elder, hence the name. The elder-fingered orchid is widely distributed throughout Slovenia, except for Pomurje.
In Slovenia it is protected and listed on the Red List of endangered plant species.
