[8] Four to ten spotted leaves (either purple or burgundy in color) are distributed around the stem,[8][9] which is hollow.

The densely flowered inflorescence, which is approximately 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) long,[9] is initially conical, but distinctly cylindrical when in full blossom.

The seven to fifty blossoms are colored purplish red, rarely light pink or white.

The lateral tepals of the external circle of the perianth stand obliquely or vertically upright.

[citation needed] The broad-leaved marsh orchid has a karyotype of four sets of twenty chromosomes (2n = 4x = 80) and a genome size of 14.24 Gbp (2C).

The name became the basionym after Peter Francis Hunt and Victor Samuel Summerhayes transferred the species to the genus Dactylorhiza in 1965.

[citation needed] Many synonyms have been published:[11] Many names have been proposed at the subspecies, variety and form levels.

Dactylorhiza majalis is widespread across much of Europe and north-central Asia, from Spain and Ireland to Siberia and Kazakhstan.