The name Dactylorhiza is derived from Greek words δάκτυλος daktylos 'finger' and ῥίζα rhiza 'root', referring to the palmately two- to five-lobed tubers of this genus.

A few species colonise very well onto fresh industrial wastes such as pulverised fuel ash, where vast hybrid swarms can appear for a decade or more, before ecological succession replaces them.

These terrestrial orchids grow in basic soils in wet meadows, bogs, heathland and in areas sparsely populated by trees.

It is found across much of Europe, North Africa and Asia from Portugal and Iceland to Taiwan and Kamchatka, including Russia, Japan, China, Central Asia, the Middle East, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, etc.

Inclusion of the widespread frog orchid, often called Coeloglossum viride, into Dactylorhiza as per some recent classifications,[6][7] expands the genus distribution to include Canada and much of the United States.