Epipactis helleborine orchid rhizome, Rare ground orchid, full shade plants

Epipactis helleborine can grow to a maximum height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in)! and more under good conditions :)

It has broad dull green leaves which are strongly ribbed and flat.
The flowers are arranged in long drooping racemes with dull green sepals and shorter upper petals.
The lower labellum is pale red and is much shorter than the upper petals.

This species is widespread across much of Europe and Asia, from Portugal to China, as well as northern Africa.
In North America, it is an introduced species and widely naturalized mostly in the Northeastern United States, eastern Canada and the Great Lakes Region, but also in scattered locations in other parts of the continent.
A full shade orchid, it will grow in places many plants can not. plant under tress or in woods and hedge-banks, It is one of the most likely European orchids to be found within a city, with many sites for example in Glasgow, London and Moscow.

Epipactis helleborine is known for its successful colonization of human-made or anthropogenic habitats such as parks, gardens or roadsides. These roadside orchids exhibit special features such as large plant size and greater ability to produce flowers. Pollination plays a huge role as pollinators such as Syrphidae, Culicidae, Apidae etc. possess greater species diversity and visits the flowering sites more in anthropogenic habitats as compared to native ones. The visitation rates along with the reproductive success of these orchids are higher in large populations as they are more attractive to pollinators.