H. hircinum was first described from France in 1753 and its name refers to the scent of the flowers which is apparently reminiscent of goats. H. hircinum var. aestivalis was recognized by Kreutz and Steinfeld in 2013 and its name is a reference to the taxons late flowering, which can be a full month after the nominate species.

H. hircinum itself is a widespread orchid which although unaccountably absent or rare in certain areas can equally be locally abundant in its favoured locations. Its distribution is largely centred on western Europe and reaches southern England in the north and north Africa (rarely) in the south. H. hircinum var. aestivalis has a far more restricted range and as far as is known at present it only occurs in Germany, France  and Luxembourg. It is possible that its distribution is wider than this, especially further east.

H. hircinum is a large orchid that can exceed 100 cms in height and is difficult to confuse with any other species except where its range overlaps with similar group members such as H. caprinum and H. adriaticum. It grows in full sun on alkaline soils and its favoured habitats are sand dunes, short grassland and sunny banks. Whereas the nominate species can vary somewhat in colouration from whitish green to a pale reddish brown, this variety tends to be consistently pale with thin red markings on the lip. In other morphological respects the two are indistinguishable and overall their stature and characteristic form make them an easily identified orchid . An interesting feature of both taxons is a reputation for appearing and disappearing without obvious environmental reason.

The pictures all come from the Vercors Massif in southern France dating from the second week of July.