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Broad-Leaved Helleborine

Broad-Leaved Helleborine

Epipactis helleborine

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How common: Common

Broad-Leaved Helleborine is a tall, many-leaved woodland orchid. It is very variable and can look different in shade or sun. You can spot it in many kinds of woods and at forest edges across much of Europe and temperate Asia, and in places in North America.

Did you know?

  • Protected in Finland (except Åland).
  • Its sugary nectar can ferment; wasps visiting the flowers are sometimes seen moving sluggishly as if tipsy.

About the species

Identification

Upright orchid 30–80 cm tall. Many leaves spiral up the stem; lower ones are broad and oval (5–10 cm), upper ones narrower and pointed. The flower cluster is a loose, slightly one‑sided spike 10–25 cm long with many small, slightly nodding flowers about 2 cm across. Outside they are usually green to yellow‑green; inside green or brownish‑red to violet. Seed pods follow. Usually greener than other helleborines: the dark‑red helleborine has mostly deep red‑purple, strongly scented flowers, and the marsh helleborine has pink‑white, showier flowers in open fens. Flowers in Finland in July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

herb-rich forest

Flowering

Jul

About the habitat

Grows in woodlands and woodland edges, from light-rich groves to mixed and conifer woods. Also on slopes, along paths, in rocky woods and rich fens. Favors lime-rich, nutrient‑rich soils and tolerates both shade and sun. Mostly south of a Pori–Kainuu line; quite frequent on calcareous areas of southern Finland, scattered elsewhere.

Sources

Photo: Liam Steele, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/5938072469

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtö ja Västerskog, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40032

Text: Pinkka: BIO-513 Syventävä putkilokasvituntemus - Epipactis-Hieracium, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40032

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehtoneidonvaippa

See also