[5] The taxon was first given a scientific name in 1936 by H. W. Pugsley; he described plants found in Britain and Ireland as Orchis majalis subsp.

traunsteineriodes distinguish it from other Dactylorhiza taxa found in Britain and Ireland with the exception of D. francis-drucei var.

The latter is found only on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and has heavily spotted stem leaves and a less trilobed labellum, with a shorter central lobe,[7] although genetic studies published in 2011 suggest that it is not distinct from D. majalis subsp.

[4] Plants found in Britain and Ireland and identified as Dactylorhiza traunsteineri or D. majalis subsp.

Stace (2010) gives its distribution within Britain as "especially East Anglia, Yorkshire, north Wales and western Scotland".

traunsteinerioides found below a line extending from the mid-Wales coast to the Humber Estuary in Yorkshire actually belong to D. majalis subsp.