Flora of North America species comparison

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Listera cordata

Listera cordata var. nephrophylla

heart-leaf twayblade
Photo is of parent taxon

heartleaf twayblade, western heart-leaf twayblade
Habit Plants 5–33 cm.
Stems

green to reddish purple, succulent, glabrous.

Leaves

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

blade 2–4 × 1.8–3.8 cm.
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.

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.

green to yellow-green;

pedicels slender, 3 mm;

sepals 4 × 1.5 mm;

petals 1.5–2.5 × 0.5–1 mm;

lip 5–6 × 1–1.5 mm.
Capsules

semierect, subglobose, 5 × 4 mm. 

2n

= 36, 38

Listera cordata

Listera cordata var. nephrophylla
Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Shaded humus of rich, well-drained, coniferous or coniferous-hardwood forest
Elevation 1500–3500 m (4900–11500 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
n North America; Europe; Asia (Japan); Iceland
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Taxonomists have differed about whether these two varieties deserve to be recognized. The arguments for maintaining the varieties as distinct (C. A. Luer 1975) and against maintaining them as distinct (D. S. Correll 1950; C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 5; J. A. Calder and R. L. Taylor 1968; E. Hultén 1941–1950, vol. 3) have been summarized (R. A. Coleman 1995). Although leaf size and shape overlap, the leaves of the western plants are broader than long, those of the eastern plants longer than broad. Nonetheless, the distinction is not sufficient to maintain separate varieties (J. A. Calder and R. L. Taylor 1968). In the present treatment we have taken a conservative approach and include the two varieties. We recognize, however, that in North America, Listera cordata is a highly variable species: although some plants easily fit one or the other of the described varieties, a host of intermediates do not fit either. Further study of this species “complex” is needed.

(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
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 588. FNA vol. 26.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae > Listera Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae > Listera > Listera cordata
Sibling taxa
L. auriculata, L. australis, L. borealis, L. caurina, L. convallarioides, L. ovata, L. smallii
L. cordata var. cordata
Subordinate taxa
L. cordata var. cordata, L. cordata var. nephrophylla
Synonyms Ophrys cordata, Bifolium cordatum, Diphryllum cordatum, Distomaea cordata, Neottia cordata, Pollinirhiza cordata L. nephrophylla, Neottia nephrophylla, Ophrys nephrophylla
Name authority (Linnaeus) R. Brown: in W. Aiton and W. T. Aiton, Hortus Kew. 5: 201. (1813) (Rydberg) Hultén: Fl. Aleut. Isl., 145. (1937)
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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