Cephalanthera longifolia(L.) Fritsch - Narrow-leaved helleborine
Scientific Description:
Plant 10–60 cm. Stem densely leafy. Leaves linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, spreading, often curved. Spike few- to many-flowered. Lowermost bracts leaflike, uppermost very small. Flowers white, rather small. Sepals lanceolate, 14–18 mm; petals ovate, shorter. Hypochile slightly concave, lateral lobes clasping the column; epichile broader than long, obtuse, margins ± erose, with 4–6 orange-yellow longitudinal crests, papillose. Column 7–8 mm. Ovary glabrous, much elongated after flowering, erect.
Flowering time: April–June.
Habitat: Meadows near forest margins, deciduous and coniferous forest, mainly in montane region, 200–2000 m.
Reference:
Renz J & Taubenheim G (1984). Cephalanthera longifolia (L.) Fritsch, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 8: 460.
Public Description:
Cephalanthera longifolia, commonly known as “narrow-leaved helleborine” or “sword-leaved helleborine”, is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. It is herbaceous perennial plant with white flowers about 1 cm long, and dark green leaves. Its flowers usually open only during the warmest and brightest hours of the day. Narrow-leaved helleborine blooms from April to June. It is a flower of open woodland: glades, margins, rides and steep rocky slopes where it can find permanent patches of light. It prefers calcareous soil found.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2017). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalanthera_longifolia, Accessed date: 08.05.2017.
Anonymous 2 (2017). http://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/narrow-leaved-helleborine, Accessed date: 08.05.2017.
Güler N (2012). Cephalanthera Rich., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 630–631.