Dactylorhiza hatagirea (Salam Panja)
Dactylorhiza hatagirea – Salam panja, field in GHNP (Click to enlarge)
| English Name | Himalayan Marsh Orchid |
| Local name | Salam Panja/Hath-Panja |
| Botanical name | Dactylorhiza hatagirea |
| Family | Orchidaceae |
| Distribution | Common in grassy meadows and on slopes of Tirthan, Sainj and Jiwa Nal. Rare in alpine slopes. |
| Description | It is a glabrous, terrestrial, robust tuberous herb of height 20-50 cm. Tubers palmate, divided into 2 or 3 like processes. Leaves oblong or oblong –lanceolate. Flowers are pink or purple, in dense flowered spikes. Bracts acuminate, much longer than the flowers |
| Flowering | June-August |
| Uses | The tubers are important ingredient of many Ayurvedic and Unani preparations and therefore, collected by the local people for sale. The large –scale exploitation may lead to its extinction from the natural habitat |
Dactylorhiza hatagirea – salam panja, in GHNP