Neottia produces a racemose inflorescences with flowers in shades of green or dull pink through to maroon and purple. The lip of each flower is prominently forked or two-lobed. Some species (those which were previously the only members of the genus Neottia in the strict sense, such as the bird's-nest orchid, Neottia nidus-avis) are completely without chlorophyll and have leaves which are reduced to scales.
Neottia is a genus of relatively small terrestrial orchids. Some (the former genus Listera) have chlorophyll and are hence gaining their energy from photosynthesis. Others (the formerly narrowly defined genus Neottia) lack chlorophyll and are dependent on fungi for their nutrition (mycotrophic). The flowering stem has a number of greenish or brownish bracts at the base. In the photosynthetic members of the genus there are also two more-or-less opposite green leaves (very rarely more than two in Neottia ovata). The flowers are individually small, in shades of green, yellow, brown or red to purple. The lip is usually much larger than the other five tepals, and is almost always deeply divided into two lobes at the end.[7] The other five tepals may form a loose hood.[8] The pollinia are not stalked.[7]
At one time the genus was divided between Neottia and Listera. Molecular phylogenetic studies in this century have shown that species lacking chlorophyll, such as Neottia nidus-avis, evolved within a larger clade of photosynthetic plants containing Neottia and Listera,[8] so that the two genera should be combined. As Neottia is the older name, sources such as the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families and the Flora of China now use Neottia for all species formerly in Listera.[2] Other sources continue to divide the genus into two.[9]
Neottia nidus-avis (L.) Rich. – widespread across most of Europe; also Algeria, Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, western Siberia - bird's-nest orchid[8]
Neottia nipponica (Makino) Szlach. - Russian Far East, Korea, Japan
Neottia oblata (S.C.Chen) Szlach. - Chongqing
Neottia ovata (L.) Bluff & Fingerh. - Europe, Siberia, Central Asia, Southwestern Asia – common twayblade,[8] eggleaf twayblade[9]
Bateman, R.M. (2009). Evolutionary classification of European orchids: the crucial importance of maximising explicit evidence and minimising authoritarian speculation. Journal Europäischer Orchideen 41: 243-318.
Chen, Xinqi; Gale, Stephan W.; Cribb, Phillip J., "Neottia", Neottia in Flora of China, retrieved 2012-04-05, in Wu, Zhengyi; Raven, Peter H. & Hong, Deyuan, eds. (1994), Flora of China, Beijing; St. Louis: Science Press; Missouri Botanical Garden, retrieved 2012-04-05
