Cephalanthera longifolia K. Fritsch 1888 Photo courtesy of Pascal Pernot and the Orchids of France and Europe

Part sunColdTo CoolSpring TO EARLY Summer

Common Name The Long-Leafed Cephalanthera - The White Lady - The Sword-Leafed Hellebourne

Flower Size About 3/4" [to 1.95 cm]

A medium sized, cold to cool growing terrestrial from Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sewden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France, Balaeric Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Scicily, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Czechloslavakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Yuogoslavia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine, Western Russia, Central Russia, , Kazakastan, Kirgistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, China, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Pakistan, western Himalayas and Bhutan found in deciduous woodlands and scrubby margins of woodlands as well as on sand dunes and open pine woods in calcareous soils at elevations of 2250 to 3100 meters with a densely leaf stem with 2 to 4 basal leaf sheaths that are white tipped green and carrying dark green, linear-lanceolate, plicate, ribbed leaves that blooms in the spring through early summer on an erect, to 24" [to 60 cm] long, racemose, loosely many [10 to 20] flowered inflorescence.

Synonyms Cephalanthera acuminata Lindley 1832; Cephalanthera acuminata Wall. ex Lindl. 1840 ; Cephalanthera ensifolia (Murr) L.C.M. Richard 1818; Cephalanthera grandiflora S.F. Gray 1821; Cephalanthera longifolia f. angustifolia Maire & Weiller 1959; Cephalanthera longifolia f. latifolia (Maire) Maire & Weiller 1959; Cephalanthera longifolia var. pilosa Harz in J.Sturm 1896; Cephalanthera longifolia var. rosea Perko 2002; Cephalanthera maravignae Tineo 1843; Epipactis pallida Sw. 1800 ; Cephalanthera thomsonii Rchb.f. 1876; Cephalanthera xiphophylla {L.F.}Rchb. 1851; Cephalanthera xiphophyllum var. latifolia Maire 1914; Cymbidium xilophyllum Sw. 1799; Cymbidium xiphiifolium Lindl.1822; Cymbidium xiphophyllum (Ehrh. ex L.f.) Sw.1799; Epipactis ensifolia F.W.Schmidt 1795; Epipactis grandiflora (L.) Sm. 1795; Epipactis grandifolia All. 1785; Epipactis xiphophylla (Ehrh. ex L.f.) Sw. 1805 ; Helleborine longifolia (Scop.) Moench 1842; Limodorum acuminatum (Wall. ex Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Limodorum grandiflorum (L.) Kuntze 1891; Limodorum longifolium (L.) Kuntze 1891; Serapias ensifolia J.S. Murray 1774; Serapias grandiflora L. 1767; *Serapias helleborine var. longifolia L. 1753; Serapias longifolia [L.] Scop. 1772; Serapias nivea Vill. 1787; Serapias pallida Wahlenb. 1814; Serapias xiphophyllum L.f. 1762

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Wild Orchids Of Britain Summerhayes 1951; An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1987 as Cephalanthera xiphophylla; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2003; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005; Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle east Delforge 2005Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2007

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