D. coccinea was first described by Averyanov from Anglesey, Britain in 1884 and its name refers to the
scarlet colouration of the flowers.
The distribution of this species is restricted to the Irish Sea coasts of Britain and Ireland where it is
predominantly to be found in wet dune slacks and more rarely damp meadows. As with most species in the Genus, hybridization is frequent and there has been considerable ingression that can often make
certain identification difficult. In general terms however, the bright scarlet colouration tends to be
retained albeit in various degree's of dilution.
In its pure form D. coccinea is a squat plant with thick, closely layered leaves that arch from the lower stem. Unlike D. incarnata with its usually green (sometimes washed brown), the bracts and upper stem are
washed purple.
Although the species has such a limited and localised distribution, it can be relatively frequent in its
favoured locations and in suitable sand dune systems around the Welsh coastline it can often be found
in huge numbers and usually amongst equally large numbers of several other Dactylorhiza species and
intermediates.
The pictures here are from the sand dunes at Braunton Burrows, Somerset and Kenfig Nature Reserve, Glamorgan. They date from the first week of June.
