Neottia

Neottia
Neottia cordata (syn. Listera cordata)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Neottieae
Genus: Neottia
Guett.[1]
Type species
Neottia nidus-avis
Synonyms[2]
  • Listera R.Br.
  • Nidus Riv.
  • Nidus-avis Ortega.
  • Cardiophyllum Ehrh.
  • Diphryllum Raf.
  • Neottidium Schltdl.
  • Distomaea Spenn.
  • Pollinirhiza Dulac
  • Holopogon Kom. & Nevski in V.L.Komarov
  • Archineottia S.C.Chen
  • Diplandrorchis S.C.Chen

Neottia is a genus of orchids. The genus now includes the former genus Listera, commonly known as twayblades referring to the single pair of opposite leaves at the base of the flowering stem. The genus is native to temperate, subarctic and arctic regions across most of Europe, northern Asia (Siberia, China, the Himalayas, Central Asia, etc), and North America, with a few species extending into subtropical regions in the Mediterranean, Indochina, the southeastern United States, etc.[1][3][4][5][6]

Neottia produces a racemose inflorescences with flowers in shades of green or dull pink through to maroon and purple. The lip of each flower is prominently forked or two-lobed. Some species (those which were previously the only members of the genus Neottia in the strict sense, such as the bird's-nest orchid, Neottia nidus-avis) are completely without chlorophyll and have leaves which are reduced to scales.

N. nidus-avis, a non-photosynthetic species
  1. ^ a b "Neottia", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2012-04-05
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WCSP_L was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Flora of North America, v 25, p 586, Listera R. Brown, Hortus Kew. 5: 201. 1813.
  4. ^ Flora of China v 25 p 184, 鸟巢兰属 niao chao lan shu, Neottia Guettard, Hist. Acad. Roy. Sci. Mém. Math. Phys. (Paris, 4°) 1750: 374. 1754.
  5. ^ Bateman, R.M. (2009). Evolutionary classification of European orchids: the crucial importance of maximising explicit evidence and minimising authoritarian speculation. Journal Europäischer Orchideen 41: 243-318.
  6. ^ Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2006). Epidendroideae (Part One). Genera Orchidacearum 4: 1-672. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.