''Neottia auriculata'' (syn. ''Listera auriculata''), the auricled twayblade, (as ''Listera auriculata'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of terrestrial

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

found in northeastern North America (

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

west to

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

.Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map, ''Neottia auriculata''
/ref>

Description

''N. auriculata'' when mature, has two ovate, sessile leaves that are paired on the stem but arranged oppositely. It has small pale-green flowers with three sepals and three petals, the lowest petal is modified into a wider lip - which is divided from one-fourth to one-third its length.

Distribution and habitat

''N. auriculata'' is a rare orchid species, which was in 1975 proposed as a threatened species in the US, but subsequent surveys found that it existed in greater abundance than initially thought. In the

Great lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...

it occupies a very specific habitat, which has sandy soils just about the high water line of rivers that enter

lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. It is associated with alders or mossy-banks under trees.

References

External links

* * auriculata Plants described in 1899 Orchids of North America Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Epidendroideae-stub