Flora of North America species comparison

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Listera cordata

Listera

heart-leaf twayblade

twayblade
Habit Plants 5–33 cm. Herbs, perennial, terrestrial.
Roots

slender, fibrous.
Stems

green to reddish purple, succulent, glabrous.

slender to stout, glabrous proximal to leaves;

cauline bracts 2(–3), enclosing base of stem.
Leaves

blade broadly to narrowly ovate-cordate or deltate, 0.9–2(–4) × 0.7–2(–3.8) cm, apex mucronate.

2(–3, rarely), at apex of stem, opposite or subopposite, sessile, glabrous.
Inflorescences

5–25-flowered, lax to dense, 20–100 mm, slender;

floral bracts ovate, 1–1.5 × 1 mm;

peduncle and rachis slightly glandular-puberulent or glabrate;

bracts, pedicel, and ovary glabrous.

terminal, 2–100-flowered racemes;

peduncle and rachis densely glandular-pubescent or glabrate;

floral bracts inconspicuous, lanceolate, elliptic, suborbiculate-ovate, rhombic-ovate, or oblong.
Flowers

yellow-green, green, or reddish purple;

pedicel slender, 2–3 mm;

dorsal sepal ovate-oblong to oblong-elliptic, 2–3 × 1 mm, apex obtuse;

lateral sepals ovate-oblong to oblong-elliptic, slightly falcate, 2–3 × 0.5–1.5 mm, apex obtuse;

petals elliptic to oblong-linear, 1.5–2.5 × 0.5–1 mm, apex obtuse;

lip linear-oblong, cleft 1/2 –2/3 its length into 2 linear-lanceolate lobes, 3–4 × 1–1.5 mm;

disc with pair of spreading, linear lobes, apices acute;

column 0.5 × 0.5 mm.

resupinate, maroon-purple, yellowish green to dark green, blue-green, or pinkish tan;

dorsal sepal ovate-elliptic, elliptic-obovate, linear-elliptic, or lanceolate;

lateral sepals semiorbiculate-elliptic, ovate, linear-elliptic, or oblong-lanceolate, often falcate-recurved;

petals reflexed, spreading, or connivent, linear, linear-oblong to lanceolate, or elliptic, falcate;

lip prominently deflexed or not, sessile or clawed, linear-oblong to obovate, suborbiculate-ovate, or ovate-reniform, base of lip with or without prominent auricles or lobes, apex deeply 2-lobed, dilated to rounded, apiculate;

calli various, papillose, pair of horns, or with 1–2 lamellae;

column arcuate, thick, short, apex expanded or not;

anther on adaxial side of column near apex;

pollinia 2, yellow, soft;

ovaries pedicellate.
Fruits

capsules, horizontal to semierect, ellipsoid, ovoid, or subglobose, glabrous or glabrate to glandular-pubescent.
Capsules

semierect, subglobose, 5 × 4 mm. 

Listera cordata

Listera
Distribution
from USDA
n North America; Europe; Asia (Japan); Iceland
[WildflowerSearch map]
from USDA
Cool temperate regions; Northern and Southern hemispheres
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 25 (8 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades 0.7–2 cm wide; lip 3–4 mm; flowers yellow-green, green, or reddish purple.
var. cordata
1. Leaf blades 1.8–3.8 cm wide; lip 5–6 mm; flowers green to yellow-green.
var. nephrophylla
1. Lip cleft 1/2–2/3 its length into 2 pointed, linear-lanceolate apical lobes; column 0.5–1 mm.
→ 2
1. Lip expanded at apex or if cleft, then less than 1/2 its length and apical lobes rounded; column 1.5–4 mm.
→ 3
2. Lip with basal auricles rounded and projecting distally, partially surrounding column; flowers smaller, dorsal and lateral sepals 1.5 mm.
L. australis
2. Lip with basal auricles or lobes pointed and projecting outward like horns, not partially surrounding column; flowers larger, dorsal and lateral sepals 2–3 mm.
L. cordata
3. Lip ± as broad at apex as at base, with basal auricles or lobes extending beyond column.
→ 4
3. Lip broader at apex than at base, without basal auricles or lobes extending beyond column.
→ 5
4. Auricles curving around and clasping base of column; pedicels glabrous, rarely glabrate; dorsal sepal 3–3.5 mm, lateral sepals 3–4 mm.
L. auriculata
4. Auricles divergent from column; pedicels glandular-pubescent; dorsal sepal 4–6 mm, lateral sepals 4.5–7 mm.
L. borealis
5. Lip with short claw, not sessile.
L. convallarioides
5. Lip sessile, without claw.
→ 6
6. Lip deflexed, base of lip without teeth or lobules; pedicels stout, 3–4 mm; capsules 10 mm.
L. ovata
6. Lip not deflexed, base of lip with teeth or lobules; pedicels slender, 4–12 mm; capsules 5 mm.
→ 7
7. Lip rounded or retuse at apex, base with 2 small, pointed auricles; pedicels glandular-puberulent.
L. caurina
7. Lip deeply notched at apex into 2 broadly rounded lobes, base with rounded lobules on each side; pedicels glabrous.
L. smallii
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 588. FNA vol. 26, p. 586. Authors: Lawrence K. Magrath, Ronald A. Coleman.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae > Listera Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae
Sibling taxa
L. auriculata, L. australis, L. borealis, L. caurina, L. convallarioides, L. ovata, L. smallii
Subordinate taxa
L. cordata var. cordata, L. cordata var. nephrophylla
L. auriculata, L. australis, L. borealis, L. caurina, L. convallarioides, L. cordata, L. ovata, L. smallii
Synonyms Ophrys cordata, Bifolium cordatum, Diphryllum cordatum, Distomaea cordata, Neottia cordata, Pollinirhiza cordata
Name authority (Linnaeus) R. Brown: in W. Aiton and W. T. Aiton, Hortus Kew. 5: 201. (1813) R. Brown: in W. Aiton and W. T. Aiton, Hortus Kew. 5: 201. (1813)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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