In Epirus, Greece, orchids have been traditionally harvested for the production of salep, a beverage made from their tubers. Over-collection of orchids for salep is believed to be a growing threat to wild species, yet very little research has concentrated on orchid populations in the wild. Here, we studied the impact of salep collection on population demographic parameters and uniformity of distribution patterns of the Elder-flowered orchid, Dactylorhiza sambucina, the most commonly collected orchid in northern Greece.We carried out fieldwork in four meadows where salep harvesting occurs, and conducted interviews in villages close to these sites. Fieldwork focused on the demographic parameters of orchid populations and on the characteristics of their habitat (natural-anthropogenic). We also measured population size and …