Neottia cordata
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Listera cordata snowdonia.jpg
| genus = Neottia
| species = cordata
| authority = (L.) Rich.{{Citation |title=Neottia cordata|work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=134197 |accessdate=2012-04-04 }}
| synonyms = *Listera cordata (L.) R.Br.
- Ophrys cordata L.
- Epipactis cordata (L.) All.
- Helleborine cordata (L.) F.W.Schmidt
- Cymbidium cordatum (L.) Londes
- Serapias cordata (L.) Steud.
- Distomaea cordata (L.) Spenn.
- Pollinirhiza cordata (L.) Dulac
- Diphryllum cordatum (L.) Kuntze
- Listera nephrophylla Rydb.
- Ophrys nephrophylla (Rydb.) Rydb.
- Neottia nephrophylla (Rydb.) Szlach.
- also several names at the form and variety levels
}}
Neottia cordata, the lesser twayblade{{cite web | title=PlantAtlas | website=PlantAtlas | url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.6y5wp4 | access-date=2025-06-25}} or heartleaf twayblade,{{PLANTS |id=LICO6 |taxon=Listera cordata|accessdate=22 June 2015}} is an orchid of upland bogs and mires that rarely exceeds {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} in height. It was formerly placed in the genus Listera, but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Neottia nidus-avis, the bird's-nest orchid, evolved within the same group.{{Citation |last=Stace |first=Clive |authorlink = Clive Stace |year=2010 |title=New Flora of the British Isles |edition=3rd |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-70772-5 }}, p. 864
It is never very common but may be frequently overlooked because of its small size and a tendency to grow underneath heather on sphagnum moss. The single erect flower-stem is often tinged red and is clasped near the base by a pair or ovate-orbicular glossy green leaves. The small flowers which look deceptively simple in structure for an orchid, are purple-green in colour with a somewhat swollen calyx.
Distribution
It has a circumpolar distribution being found in Europe, Asia and large parts of North America.{{cite POWO |title=Neottia cordata (L.) Rich. |id=645308-1 |access-date=2025-06-25}} In the United Kingdom its distribution is largely western and northern, becoming most common in the western Highlands of Scotland, Snowdonia in Wales, and the Lake District and the Pennines in England, but also a small population as far south as Exmoor.
Image:411 Listera cordata, Listera ovata.jpg
==Ecology==
The flowers produce nectar and are pollinated principally by fungus gnats in the groups Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae.{{cite journal | last=Kotilínek | first=Milan | last2=Tatarenko | first2=Irina | last3=Jersáková | first3=Jana | title=Biological Flora of the British Isles:Neottia cordata | journal=Journal of Ecology | publisher=Wiley | volume=106 | issue=1 | date=2017-11-30 | issn=0022-0477 | doi=10.1111/1365-2745.12895 | pages=444–460| doi-access=free }}
Mycorrhizal partners are almost exclusively fungi in the Sebacinales clade Serendipitaceae. There may also be some association with Ceratobasidiaceae and/or Tulasnellaceae.[http://oro.open.ac.uk/42162/ Molecular Ecology - Two widespread green Neottia species (Orchidaceae) show mycorrhizal preference for Sebacinales in various habitats and ontogenetic stages] The fungal gnats are drawn by an odour that is said to resemble dead sea snails.{{cite book | last= Agosta | first= William | date= 1996| title= Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees | location= Reading, Massechusetts | publisher= Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Inc. | page= 197 | ISBN= 0-201-15497-8 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Neottia cordata|Lesser Twayblade (Neottia cordata)}}
- {{eol|11341037}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15502195}}
Category:Orchids of North America
Category:Plants described in 1753