''Neottia'' is a genus of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

. The genus now includes the former genus ''Listera'', commonly known as twayblades referring to the single pair of

opposite leaves In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaf, leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic leaf#Arrangement on the stem, arrangements of leaves ...

at the base of the flowering stem. The genus is native to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

and

arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

regions across most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, northern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

(

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, etc), and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, with a few species extending into subtropical regions in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, the southeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, etc.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. ''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 ''Neottia nidus-avis'', the bird's-nest orchid, is a non-photosynthetic orchid, native to Europe, Russia, with sporadic presence in North-Africa, and some parts of the Middle East. Description ''Neottia nidus-avis'' grows to tall and each sh ...

'') are completely without

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

and have leaves which are reduced to scales.

Description

''Neottia'' is a genus of relatively small terrestrial orchids. Some (the former genus ''Listera'') have

and are hence gaining their energy from

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

. Others (the formerly narrowly defined genus ''Neottia'') lack chlorophyll and are dependent on fungi for their nutrition (

mycotrophic A mycotroph is a plant that gets all or part of its carbon, water, or nutrient supply through symbiotic association with fungi. The term can refer to plants that engage in either of two distinct symbioses with fungi: *Many mycotrophs have a mut ...

). The flowering stem has a number of greenish or brownish bracts at the base. In the photosynthetic members of the genus there are also two more-or-less opposite green leaves (very rarely more than two in '' Neottia ovata''). The flowers are individually small, in shades of green, yellow, brown or red to purple. The lip is usually much larger than the other five

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, and is almost always deeply divided into two lobes at the end. The other five tepals may form a loose hood. The pollinia are not stalked.

Taxonomy

At one time the genus was divided between ''Neottia'' and ''Listera''. Molecular phylogenetic studies in this century have shown that species lacking chlorophyll, such as ''

'', evolved within a larger clade of photosynthetic plants containing ''Neottia'' and ''Listera'',, p. 864 so that the two genera should be combined. As ''Neottia'' is the older name, sources such as the ''World Checklist of Selected Plant Families'' and the ''Flora of China'' now use ''Neottia'' for all species formerly in ''Listera''. Other sources continue to divide the genus into two.

Species

Species accepted as of June 2014: #''

Neottia acuminata ''Neottia'' is a genus of Orchidaceae, 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 Temperat ...

'' Schltr. - China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, Himalayas #'' Neottia alternifolia'' (King & Pantl.) Szlach. - Sikkim, Yunnan # '' Neottia auriculata'' (Wiegand) Szlach. (syn. ''Listera auriculata'') – auricled twayblade (former ''Listera'' only) - eastern Canada, northeastern USA #'' Neottia bambusetorum'' (Hand.-Mazz.) Szlach. - Yunnan # '' Neottia banksiana'' (Lindl.) Rchb.f. in W.G.Walpers (syn. ''Listera caurina'') - northwestern twayblade – from Alaska to California #'' Neottia biflora'' (Schltr.) Szlach. - Sichuan # '' Neottia bifolia'' (Raf.) Baumbach (syn. ''Listera australis'' Lindl.) – southern twayblade - eastern Canada, eastern USA # '' Neottia borealis'' (Morong) Szlach. – northern twayblade - most of Canada including Arctic regions, plus mountains of western US #'' Neottia brevicaulis'' (King & Pantl.) Szlach. - eastern Himalayas and Yunnan #'' Neottia brevilabris'' Tang & F.T.Wang - Chongqing #'' Neottia camtschatea'' (L.) Rchb.f. in H.G.L.Reichenbach - Siberia, Russian Far East, Mongolia, northwestern China, Central Asia #'' Neottia chandrae'' Raskoti, J.J.Wood & Ale - Nepal #'' Neottia chenii'' S.W.Gale & P.J.Cribb - Sichuan, Gansu #'' Neottia confusa'' Bhaumik - Arunachal Pradesh # ''

Neottia convallarioides ''Neottia convallarioides'' is a species of Epidendroideae, orchid known by the common names broad-lipped twayblade and broad-leaved twayblade. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Listera'', but Molecular phylogenetics, molecular phylogenetic s ...

'' (Sw.) Rich. – much of Canada, western and northern US, Komandor Islands of Russia - broad-lipped twayblade # ''

Neottia cordata ''Neottia cordata'', the lesser twayblade or heartleaf twayblade, is an orchid of upland bogs and mires that rarely exceeds in height. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Listera'', but Molecular phylogenetics, molecular phylogenetic studies ...

'' (L.) Rich. – widespread across Europe, northern Asia, Canada, US - lesser twayblade, heartleaf twayblade #'' Neottia dentata'' (King & Pantl.) Szlach. - Himalayas, Myanmar #'' Neottia dihangensis'' Bhaumik - Arunachal Pradesh #'' Neottia divaricata'' (Panigrahi & P.Taylor) Szlach. - Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet #'' Neottia fangii'' (Tang & F.T.Wang ex S.C.Chen & G.H.Zhu) S.C.Chen, S.W.Gale & P.J.Cribb - Sichuan #'' Neottia flabellata'' (W.W.Sm.) Szlach. - mountains of northern Myanmar #'' Neottia formosana'' S.C.Chen, S.W.Gale & P.J.Cribb - Taiwan #'' Neottia furusei'' T.Yukawa & Yagame - Japan #'' Neottia gaudissartii'' Hand.-Mazz. - Shanxi, Henan, Liaoning #'' Neottia inagakii'' Yagame, Katsuy. & T.Yukawa - Honshu #'' Neottia japonica'' (Blume) Szlach. - Japan, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Jeju-do Island of Korea #'' Neottia karoana'' Szlach. - eastern Himalayas, Yunnan #'' Neottia kiusiana'' T.Hashim. & S.Hatus. - Korea, Japan #'' Neottia kuanshanensis'' H.J.Su - Taiwan #'' Neottia latilabra'' (Evrard ex Gagnep.) ined.. - Vietnam #'' Neottia listeroides'' Lindl. in J.F.Royle - mountains from Pakistan to Tibet and Assam #'' Neottia longicaulis'' (King & Pantl.) Szlach. - eastern Himalayas, Tibet #'' Neottia mackinnonii'' Deva & H.B.Naithani - western Himalayas #'' Neottia makinoana'' (Ohwi) Szlach. - Japan #'' Neottia megalochila'' S.C.Chen - Sichuan, Yunnan #'' Neottia meifongensis'' (H.J.Su & C.Y.Hu) T.C.Hsu & S.W.Chung - Taiwan #'' Neottia microglottis'' (Duthie) Schltr. - western Himalayas #'' Neottia microphylla'' (S.C.Chen & Y.B.Luo) S.C.Chen, S.W.Gale & P.J.Cribb - Yunnan #'' Neottia morrisonicola'' (Hayata) Szlach. - Taiwan #'' Neottia mucronata'' (Panigrahi & J.J.Wood) Szlach. - China, Japan, Korea, eastern Himalayas #'' Neottia nanchuanica'' (S.C.Chen) Szlach. - Chongqing #'' Neottia nandadeviensis'' (Hajra) Szlach. - Uttarakhand #'' Neottia nankomontana'' (Fukuy.) Szlach. - Taiwan #'' Neottia nepalensis'' (N.P.Balakr.) Szlach - Nepal # ''

'' (L.) Rich. – widespread across most of Europe; also Algeria, Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, western Siberia - bird's-nest orchid #'' Neottia nipponica'' (Makino) Szlach. - Russian Far East, Korea, Japan #'' Neottia oblata'' (S.C.Chen) Szlach. - Chongqing # '' Neottia ovata'' (L.) Bluff & Fingerh. - Europe, Siberia, Central Asia, Southwestern Asia – common twayblade, eggleaf twayblade #'' Neottia pantlingii'' (W.W.Sm.) Tang & F.T.Wang - eastern Himalayas #'' Neottia papilligera'' Schltr. - Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, northeastern China #'' Neottia pinetorum'' (Lindl.) Szlach. - Himalayas of India, Nepal, China, etc. #'' Neottia pseudonipponica'' (Fukuy.) Szlach. - Taiwan #'' Neottia puberula'' (Maxim.) Szlach. - China, Japan, Korea, Siberia, Russian Far East # '' Neottia smallii'' (Wiegand) Szlach. – Appalachian Mountains of eastern US - kidneyleaf twayblade #'' Neottia smithiana'' Schltr. - Sichuan, Shaanxi #'' Neottia smithii'' (Schltr.) Szlach. - Sichuan #'' Neottia suzukii'' (Masam.) Szlach. - Taiwan #'' Neottia taibaishanensis'' P.H.Yang & K.Y.Lang - Shaanxi #'' Neottia taizanensis'' (Fukuy.) Szlach. - Taiwan #'' Neottia tenii'' Schltr. - Yunnan #'' Neottia tenuis'' (Lindl.) Szlach. - Tibet, Nepal, eastern Himalayas #''

Neottia tianschanica ''Neottia'' is a genus of Orchidaceae, 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 Temperat ...

'' (Grubov) Szlach. - Xinjiang #'' Neottia unguiculata'' (W.W.Sm.) Szlach. - Myanmar #'' Neottia ussuriensis'' (Kom. & Nevski) Soó - Primorye region of Russia #'' Neottia × veltmanii'' (Case) Baumbach - Michigan ''(N. auriculata × N. convallarioides)'' #'' Neottia wardii'' (Rolfe) Szlach. - China, Tibet #'' Neottia yunnanensis'' (S.C.Chen) Szlach. - Yunnan

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
(former ''Listera'' only) {{Authority control Neottieae genera Myco-heterotrophic orchids