Neottia nidus-avis (Linne) L.C.M. Richard 1818

Inflorescence in situ Photo by © Pieter C. Brouwer and his Photo Website

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Common Name The Bird's Nest Neottia

Flower Size 3/8" [1 cm]

Found in Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, France, Balaeric Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czechloslavakia, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Western Russia, Central Russia, Western Siberia, Algeria, Turkey and Iran as a small to medium sized, cold to cool growing terrestrial with brownish-yellow, occasionally white, thick stem enveloped by 4 to 6 sheaths turning to bracts above that blooms in the spring and early summer on a stout, erect, to about 15" [37.5 cm] long, densely many flowered inflorescence with fragrant flowers almost covered by a few scale-like, linear bracts.

Synonyms Distomaea nidus-avis (L.) Spenn. 1825; Epipactis nidus-avis Crantz 1769; Helleborine nidus-avis (L.) F.W. Schmidt 1793; Helleborine succulenta F.W.Schmidt 1793; Listera nidus-avis (L.) Curtis 1778; Malaxis nidus-avis (L.) Bernh. 1800; Neottia abortiva Gray 1821; Neottia macrostelis Peterm. 1844; Neottia orobanchoidea St.-Lag. 1880; Neottia orobanchoidea St.-Lag. 1894; Neottia squamosa Dulac 1867 ; Neottidium nidus-avis Schlechter 1823; * Ophrys nidus-avis Linne 1753; Serapias nidus-avis (L.) Steud. 1821

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 No 9 1969; Orquideologia VOl 12 3/4 1977/8; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East Delforge 2005

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