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Common Twayblade

Common Twayblade

Neottia ovata

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How common: Common

Common Twayblade is a slender wild orchid that is easy to recognise by its two big oval leaves set as a single pair on the stem. It carries a tall, narrow cluster of many small greenish flowers with a faint sweet scent. Widespread across much of Europe and into western Asia, it turns up in meadows, woods and fens.

Did you know?

  • Protected in Finland except Åland.
  • The stem has sticky hairs that act like flypaper, stopping ants from climbing up to steal nectar.

About the species

Identification

Upright, 20–60 cm tall orchid with a sturdy, slightly sticky stem. About halfway up the stem sits one pair of large oval leaves (5–20 cm) at the same height; sometimes only one leaf. Above them rises a long, narrow cluster with many small greenish to brownish flowers that smell faintly sweet. Each flower has a long lower piece that points down and splits into two blunt tips. Later, plump upright pods about 1 cm form with dust-like seeds. Do not confuse with Lesser Twayblade, which is tiny and has two small heart-shaped leaves at ground level. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

herb-rich forest, mire

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Grows in rich, moist meadows, damp woods and fens; also on calcareous wetlands and sometimes on dry slopes and roadsides, often where the soil contains lime. Fairly common in Åland; scattered in south-western and eastern Finland; rather rare elsewhere, up to southern Lapland, and has declined.

Sources

Photo: Dino Babić, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6178293743

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtön biologinen asema, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40042

Text: Pinkka: PBIO-178 Suomen uhanalaiset kasvit - Hackelia-Oxytropis, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40042

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Suot: letot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40042

Text: Pinkka: IPS-153 Flora of Subarctic Europe - Nardus-Pyrola, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40042

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40042

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

See also