Neottia ovata
species of flowering plants
Neottia ovata (formerly Listera ovata), the common twayblade or eggleaf twayblade, is a terrestrial orchid widespread across much of Europe and Asia.
Description
The flowering stems are typically 20–60 cm (7.9–23.6 in) tall, occasionally up to 75 cm (30 in). There are two large opposite basal leaves, 5–20 cm (2.0–7.9 in) long. A variable number of flowers is borne on the stems, usually more than 15 but less than 100. The flowers are small and yellowish-green in colour. The sepals and the two side petals form a fairly open hood, 5–6 mm (0.2 in) long; the labellum or lip (the central petal) is 7–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and is divided at the end into two lobes. Due to its slender profile, small flowers and green colour this species can be hard to spot.
Distribution and habitat
Found across much of Europe including the British Isles, as well as Siberia, Central Asia, Southwest Asia and the Himalayas. It has been introduced into Ontario, Canada, where it has been called the eggleaf twayblade.
Neottia ovata grows in a variety of habitats: woods, meadows, dune-slacks and moorland.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Neottia ovata” as species of flowering plants. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of flowering plants. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15502088. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Neottia ovata” 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.