Scientific name: Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz
Common name: Broad-leaved helleborine
Description
Habit: Rhizomatous, mostly shortly so. Stem leafy, 30-80(-100cm) high, hairy above.
Leaves: Not arranged in 2 ranks, several, all on stem, broadly oval, dull green, strongly ribbed, flat, less than 2 times as long as wide, the lowest usually wider than long.
Flowers: Flowers distinctly pedicellate, borne spirally or more or less on one side of stem; drooping, in a rather lax raceme with longish, green bracts; flowers 8-12mm across; sepals dull green; upper petals shorter, tinged with red; labellum reddish-pink, much shorter than sepals, with a sharp reflexed tip; labellum usually differentiated approximately 1/2 way into proximal and distal parts, neither markedly lobed, the proximal part more or less cup-shaped and not wrapped around column; rostellum obvious and secreting a white sticky sap (viscidium), or minute and with 0 or vestigial viscidium; ovary pear-shaped or cylindrical, more or less hairless.
Habitat: Sand dunes, dune slacks and woodlands.
Distribution: Frequent in parts of the North and West, rather rare elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No
Variation: Due to its tolerance of a wide range of ecological habitats, this species varies greatly in size and habit. The flower colour and number also varies and the colour can range from green coloured plants to those with reddish flowers.