Cephalanthera

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Cephalanthera
Sword-leaved Helleborine (Cephalanthera longifolia)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Orchidaceae Subfamily: Epidendroideae Tribe: Neottieae Subtribe: Limodorinae Genus: Cephalanthera (L.)
Species
possibly incomplete list: Cephalanthera austiniae (A.Gry) Heller Cephalanthera bijiangensis Chen Cephalanthera calcarata Chen & Lang Cephalanthera caucasica Krzl. Cephalanthera culcullata Boiss. & Heldr. Cephalanthera damasonium (type species) Cephalanthera epipactoides Fischer & C. A. Meyer Cephalanthera falcata Cephalanthera gracilis Cephalanthera kotschyana Renz & Taub. Cephalanthera kurdica Bornm. Cephalanthera longibracteata Cephalanthera longifolia (L.) Fritsch Cephalanthera rubra (L.) Rich. Cephalanthera schaberi Baum.

Cephalanthera is a genus of, mostly, terrestrial orchids. Members of this genus have rhizomes rather than tubers. About 15 species are currently recognised, several of them common in Europe, for example the Sword-leaved Helleborine C. longifolia. Most others are native to Asia, ranging from the Caucasus, e.g. C. caucasica, to Japan, e.g. the Bamboo-leaved Silver Orchid C. longibracteata. The Chinese species C. gracilis was only described in 2002. The only species found in North America is the Phantom Orchid or Snow Orchid C. austiniae. Ecologically, this species is partially myco-heterotrophic. Some of the Eurasian species hybridise.

Several of the European species have common names including the word "helleborine", but this name does not correspond to any modern taxon, and orchids in other genera are also called helleborines. In addition to those listed here, very large numbers of other specific names will be found in the older literature, but these are almost all synonyms for the best known species such as C. longifolia or C. damasonium, the European White Helleborine.