Neottia


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, and North America, with a few species extending into subtropical regions in the Mediterranean, Indochina, the southeastern United States, etc.
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 are completely without chlorophyll and have leaves which are reduced to scales.
[Image:Neottia nidus-avis plants.jpg|thumb|upright|N. nidus-avis, a non-photosynthetic species]

Description

Neottia is a genus of relatively small terrestrial orchids. Some have chlorophyll and are hence gaining their energy from photosynthesis. Others lack chlorophyll and are dependent on fungi for their nutrition. 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. 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 tepals, 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 Neottia nidus-avis, evolved within a larger clade of photosynthetic plants containing Neottia and Listera, 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: