Shakespeare's allusion is uncertain, as no contemporary herbals apply the name of "long purples" or "dead men's fingers" to Orchis mascula. (Sidney Beisly, writing in 1864, claimed that certain other species of orchid were known as "dead men's fingers" on account of their palmate roots, and that this name may have been mistakenly transferred over to Orchis mascula, but this has been called an "unverifiable assumption".) Some scholars, such as Karl P. Wentersdorf, therefore prefer to identify the "long purples" with Arum maculatum. Another folk name of Orchis mascula is "Gethsemane" (after the Garden of Gethsemane, in which, according to the Bible, Jesus prayed on the night before his crucifixion). This name is derived from a legend "that O. mascula grew below the cross of Christ, and that the markings on the leaves are drops of Christ's blood". References Pierre Delforge - Orchids of Europe, North Africa And the Middle East - 2006, Timber Press Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 voll.) - Edagricole – 1982, Vol. III Tutin, T.G. et al. - Flora Europaea, second edition - 1993 External links Den virtuella floran - Distribution Orchis mascula mascula Flora of North Africa Flora of the Canary Islands Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Western Asia Orchids of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus