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Appalachian twayblade, kidney-leaf twayblade

Habit Plants 5–35 cm.
Stems

slender, succulent, glabrous.

Leaves

blade dark green, ovate-reniform, 2–4 × 1.5–3.5 cm, apex acute, mucronate, or apiculate to short-acuminate.

Inflorescences

5–15-flowered, lax, 40–100 mm;

floral bracts ovate, 3–4 × 1.5 mm, apex acute;

peduncle and rachis glandular-pubescent.

Flowers

green, purple-brown, to pinkish tan;

pedicel slender, 6–7 mm, glabrous;

sepals strongly reflexed;

dorsal sepal lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3–4 × 1 mm, apex acute;

lateral sepals lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3–4 × 1 mm, apex acute;

petals slightly reflexed, linear to linear-lanceolate, margins slightly revolute, apex acute;

lip sessile, broadly obovate to cuneate, 6–10 × 5–7 mm, base with rounded lobule on each side, apex dilated and deeply cleft into pair of ± divergent broadly rounded lobes, shallowly toothed in sinus;

column slightly arcuate, short, 1.5–3 × 1–2 mm.

Capsules

semierect, ellipsoid, 5 × 3 mm.

2n

= 38.

Listera smallii

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Damp humus in shady forests of Appalachian Mountains, often beneath Rhododendron in acidic soil, also in sphagnous thickets and bogs
Elevation 600–1300 m (2000–4300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; KY; MD; NC; NJ; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Listera nipponica Makino, a species similar to L. smallii, occurs in the mountains of Japan.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 591.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Neottieae > subtribe Limodorinae > Listera
Sibling taxa
L. auriculata, L. australis, L. borealis, L. caurina, L. convallarioides, L. cordata, L. ovata
Synonyms L. reniformis, Bifolium smallii, Neottia smallii, Ophrys smallii
Name authority Wiegand: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 169. (1899)
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