Neottia cordata

Neottia cordata
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Epidendroideae
Genus:	Neottia
Species:	N. cordata
Binomial name
Neottia cordata (L.) Rich.
Synonyms [1]
List Bifolium cordatum Cymbidium cordatum Diphryllum cordatum Distomaea cordata Epipactis cordata Helleborine cordata Listera cordata Ophrys cordata Pollinirhiza cordata Serapias cordata

Neottia cordata, the lesser twayblade or heartleaf twayblade, is an orchid of upland bogs and mires. 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. ^[2]

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.

Description

Heartleaf twayblade is a herbaceous plant that has flowering stems that are between 3 and 33 centimeters (1.2 and 13.0 in), though more often 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in). Usually each plant has just one flowering stem, but rarely there can be as many as three. ^[3] The stem is hairless, succulent, and green to purple–red; ^[4] it is clasped by the leaves about a third to halfway up a flowering stem or at the top of a non-flowering stem. ^[5]

The glossy green leaves are a shiny dark-green on the upper side and ovate to cordate, shaped like an egg or like a heart. ^[6] They measure 0.9–4 cm long by 0.7–3.8 cm wide, although they are usually less than 2 cm long and wide. ^[4] Very often there are two leaves that are almost paired, but very rarely a single stem will have as many as four leaves. ^[5]

The inflorescence most often has three to fifteen blooms on the upper 1.5 to 4 cm of the stem, ^[5] but they will sometimes have as many as 25 flowers. ^[4] The flowers are quite small, measuring just 2–3 millimeters across. ^[5] The petals are yellow-green, green, or reddish purple. ^[4] The smell of the flowers is quite strong. Botanists have described it as, "truly repulsive," and resembling, "molluscs beginning to go bad." ^[7]

Taxonomy

Neottia cordata was given the scientific name Ophrys cordata in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus. In 1817 Louis Claude Richard moved the species to the genus Neottia , creating what became the species accepted name. ^[1] Though until the 2000s it was generally placed in the genus Listera. The similarity between the two groups due to flower structure was long recognized, but formerly all the species in Neottia lacked chlorophyll. Studies of the genetics showed they should be united into one genus. ^[5] Together with its genus it is classified in the family Orchidaceae. ^[1] The name Neottia cordata is listed as accepted in Plants of the World Online, ^[1] World Flora Online, ^[8] the Database of Vascular Plants of Canada, ^[9] and World Plants. ^[10] However, the name Listera cordata is still encountered in some sources such as the Flora of North America. ^[4]

It has no accepted subspecies, but there are two in its 31 synonyms. ^[1]

Table of Synonyms

Name	Year	Rank	Notes
Bifolium cordatum(L.) Nieuwl.	1913	species	≡ hom., nom. illeg.
Cymbidium cordatum(L.) Londes	1811	species	≡ hom.
Diphryllum cordatum(L.) Kuntze	1891	species	≡ hom.
Distomaea cordata(L.) Spenn.	1825	species	≡ hom.
Epipactis cordata(L.) All.	1785	species	≡ hom.
Helleborine cordata(L.) F.W.Schmidt	1793	species	≡ hom.
Listera cordata(L.) R.Br.	1813	species	≡ hom.
Listera cordata f. appendiculataHonda	1946	form	= het.
Listera cordata var. chloranthaBeauverd	1925	variety	= het.
Listera cordata f. crassaV.N.Vassil.	1957	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. disjunctaLepage	1946	form	= het.
Listera cordata subsp. japonica(H.Hara) F.Maek.	1971	subspecies	= het.
Listera cordata var. japonicaH.Hara	1938	variety	= het.
Listera cordata subsp. nephrophylla(Rydb.) Á.Löve & D.Löve	1965	subspecies	= het.
Listera cordata var. nephrophylla(Rydb.) Hultén	1937	variety	= het.
Listera cordata f. pallidaC.G.H.Thed.	1889	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. rubescensP.M.Br.	1995	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. tenuisV.N.Vassil.	1957	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. tetraphyllaLavoie	1984	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. trifolia(Asch. & Graebn.) Pauca & Stefur.	1972	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. trifoliaP.M.Br.	1995	form	= het., nom. illeg.
Listera cordata lusus trifoliaAsch. & Graebn.	1907	sport	= het.
Listera cordata f. variegataP.M.Br.	1995	form	= het.
Listera cordata f. viridensP.M.Br.	1995	form	= het.
Listera nephrophyllaRydb.	1900	species	= het.
Neottia cordata f. rubescens(P.M.Br.) P.M.Br.	2019	form	= het.
Neottia nephrophylla(Rydb.) Szlach.	1995	species	= het.
Ophrys cordataL.	1753	species	≡ hom.
Ophrys nephrophylla(Rydb.) Rydb.	1905	species	= het.
Pollinirhiza cordata(L.) Dulac	1867	species	≡ hom.
Serapias cordata(L.) Steud.	1821	species	≡ hom.
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

Names

The species name, cordata, is Botanical Latin meaning "heart shaped". ^[11] Similarly, it is known by the common name heart-leaved twayblade. ^[9] Other common names include heartleaf twayblade, ^[12] western heart-leaved twayblade, ^[9] lesser twayblade, ^[13] and simply twayblade. ^[14] Although, Neottia ovata is also known as twayblade. ^[14]

Distribution

It has a circumpolar distribution being found in Europe, Asia and large parts of North America. ^[1] 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. ^[15]

Neottia cordata (as Listera cordata) from Bilder ur Nordens Flora

Ecology

The flowers produce nectar and are pollinated principally by fungus gnats in the groups Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae. ^[16]

Mycorrhizal partners are almost exclusively fungi in the Sebacinales clade Serendipitaceae. There may also be some association with Ceratobasidiaceae and/or Tulasnellaceae. ^{[17] [18]}

References

Citations

1. POWO 2025.
2. Stace 2010, p. 864.
3. Kotilínek, Tatarenko & Jersáková 2018, p. 444.
4. Magrath & Coleman 2020.
5. Kotilínek, Tatarenko & Jersáková 2018, p. 445.
6. Gibbons 2007, p. 316.
7. Agosta 1997, p. 197.
8. WFO 2025.
9. VASCAN 2025.
10. Hassler 2025.
11. Heil et al. 2013, p. 684.
12. Robertson 1999, p. 48.
13. Bowmer 2008, p. 46.
14. Quattrocchi 2000, p. 1510.
15. Carey, Dines & Bateman 2020.
16. Kotilínek, Tatarenko & Jersáková 2018, p. 453.
17. Kotilínek, Tatarenko & Jersáková 2018, p. 449–450.
18. Těšitelová et al. 2015.

Sources

Books

• Agosta, William C. (1997). Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees : A Close-up Look at Chemical Warfare and Signals in Animals and Plants. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN   978-0-201-15497-9. OCLC   38854586 . Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• Gibbons, Bob (2007). Philip's Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe . London: Philip's. ISBN   978-0-540-08982-6. OCLC   84150936 . Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• Bowmer, Roger (2008). British Orchids : A Site Guide . Ramsbury, England: Crowood Press. ISBN   978-1-84797-002-2. OCLC   182664163 . Retrieved 1 November 2025.
• Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. ISBN   978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN   0161-1542. LCCN   2012949654. OCLC   859541992 . Retrieved 1 November 2025.
• Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names : Common Names, Scientific Names, eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Vol. II D–L. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. ISBN   978-0-8493-2673-8. OCLC   41361544.
• Robertson, Leigh (1999). Southern Rocky Mountain Wildflowers : A Field Guide to Common Wildflowers, Shrubs, and Trees . Photographs by Duane B. Squires. Helena, Montana ; Estes Park, Colorado: Falcon ; Rocky Mountain Nature Association. ISBN   978-1-56044-624-8. OCLC   47010542 . Retrieved 1 November 2025.
• Stace, Clive A. (2010). New flora of the British Isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-70772-5. OCLC   1468184532.

Journals

• Kotilínek, Milan; Tatarenko, Irina; Jersáková, Jana (January 2018). "Biological Flora of the British Isles: Neottia cordata". Journal of Ecology. 106 (1): 444–460. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12895 .
• Těšitelová, Tamara; Kotilínek, Milan; Jersáková, Jana; Joly, François‐Xavier; Košnar, Jiří; Tatarenko, Irina; Selosse, Marc‐André (March 2015). "Two widespread green Neottia species ( O rchidaceae) show mycorrhizal preference for S ebacinales in various habitats and ontogenetic stages". Molecular Ecology. 24 (5): 1122–1134. doi:10.1111/mec.13088. PMID   25612936.

Web sources

• Carey, P.D.; Dines, T.D.; Bateman, R.M. (2020). Stroh, P.A.; Humphrey, T. A.; Burkmar, R.J.; Pescott, O.L.; Roy, D.B.; Walker, K.J. (eds.). "Neottia cordata (L.) Rich". Plant Atlas 2020. BSBI & UKCEH. Archived from the original on 25 June 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
• Hassler, Michael (12 October 2025). "Neottia cordata in the Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 25.10". World Plants. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• Magrath, Lawrence K.; Coleman, Ronald A. (5 November 2020) [In print 2002]. "Listera cordata". Flora of North America . p. 588. ISBN   978-0-19-515208-1. OCLC   65199362. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• NatureServe (3 October 2025). "Listera cordata". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• "Neottia cordata (L.) Rich". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• VASCAN; Acadia University; Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre; University of Toronto Mississauga; University of British Columbia (2025). "Neottia cordata - Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN)". Canadensys. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
• WFO (2025). "Neottia cordata (L.) Rich". World Flora Online . Retrieved 31 October 2025.

External links

• Data related to Lesser Twayblade (Neottia cordata) at Wikispecies
• "Neottia cordata". The Encyclopedia of Life .