Epipactis helleborine
species of plant
Epipactis helleborine, the broad-leaved helleborine, is a terrestrial species of orchid with a broad distribution. It is a long lived herb which varies morphologically with ability to self-pollinate.
Description
Epipactis helleborine can grow to a maximum height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) or more under good conditions, and has broad dull green leaves which are strongly ribbed and flat. The flowers are arranged in long drooping racemes with dull green sepals and shorter upper petals. The lower labellum is pale red and is much shorter than the upper petals.
Achlorophyllous, white Epipactis helleborine plants have been found. Achlorophyllous forms tend to be shorter, as small as 17 cm.
Flowering occurs June–September.
Taxonomy
Epipactis helleborine was given the scientific name Serapias helleborine by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The botanist Heinrich Johann Nepomuk von Crantz moved the species to Epipactis in 1769 giving the species its accepted name.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Epipactis helleborine” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Epipactis, helleborine and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q157426. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1753 and 1769.
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This entry incorporates text from “Epipactis helleborine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.