Two big, oval leaves face each other halfway up the stem, and above them a tall green spike of tiny yellow-green flowers like little dangling people
Common twayblade — Neottia ovata.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Common twayblade
Native · flowers May–Jul · woods, grassland, scrub and dunes on lime-rich soil
Neottia ovata — Orchidaceae
The common twayblade is one of Britain's commonest orchids and one of the easiest to overlook: its green flowers match the leaves, and the plant has just two large, oval leaves, its 'twin blades', halfway up the stem. Its tiny yellow-green flowers each look like a little dangling person.
How to spot them
- ▸Just two large, broad, oval, paired leaves growing opposite each other near the base of the stem
- ▸Tall, slender green spike, typically up to about 50 cm, with as many as 100 small yellow-green flowers
- ▸Each flower has a hood and a long, narrow lip that hangs down and splits into two, like tiny legs
- ▸Woodland, grassland, scrub, dunes and even churchyards and gardens, on chalky or damp ground, May to July
- ▸Look-alike: the lesser twayblade is much smaller (a few cm tall) and has tiny reddish flowers; it grows on moorland and in damp woods
How to know it
Its name refers to its 'twin blades', the pair of broad leaves at the base of its stem
Common twayblade — 'twayblade' means two leaves.
A single spike can carry as many as 100 small flowers, yet this common orchid is easily overlooked because its flowers are the same green as its leaves
Common twayblade.
Each flower has a hood and a lip that dangles and splits into two long, thin lobes, like a pair of legs
Common twayblade.
Its much smaller moorland relative has reddish flowers on a stem only a few centimetres high
Common twayblade — the lesser twayblade.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Orchidaceae; ovata is Latin for 'egg-shaped', from the oval leaves; 'twayblade' is 'two blades', from the pair of leaves
- •Native; flowers May to July (Wildlife Trusts)
- •One of the commonest British orchids, easy to overlook because of its subtle green colouring (Wildlife Trusts)
- •A single stem typically 50 cm tall can carry up to 100 flowers (Wildlife Trusts)
- •Found in woodland, grassland, scrub, chalky ground, farmland, wetland and even gardens
- •The related lesser twayblade, Neottia cordata, is much rarer and grows in moorland and wet woodland (Wildlife Trusts)
- •Not on Schedule 8, but it is an offence under section 13(1)(b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for anyone who is not an authorised person to intentionally uproot any wild plant. Do not dig up wild orchids
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Common twayblade
- legislation.gov.uk — Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 13