at an altitude of above sea level. This species was once abundant, when forests were used for grazing livestock and trees were coppiced, but is now threatened by overgrowth of larger plants. As the flower spikes are eaten by deer, the sword-leaved helleborine is also threatened by the increase of deer populations following extirpation of large predators like the wolf and brown bear in many parts of Europe. Etymology The genus name Cephalanthera comes from the Greek κεφαλή kephalē (head) and ἄνθηρα anthēra (anther): the anther is placed at the top (head) of the column. The Latin name longifolia means with long leaves . "Helleborine" may refer to deer using the orchid for food (many conservationists have noted that helleborine orchids are grazed by deer). Alternatively it may denote that the plants are similar to hellebores (a group of species in the family Ranunculaceae). "Hellebore" comes from the Greek "álkē" and "bora", translating as "fawn" and "food of beasts". Gallery References External links Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 voll.) - Edagricole - 1982 Tutin, T.G. et al. - Flora Europaea, second edition - 1993 Acta Plantarum Den virtuella floran - Distribution Plantlife website - species listing Naturdata page on Cephalantera longifolia with pictures and information for this species in Portugal Biolib Cephalanthera longifolia longifolia Orchids of Asia Orchids of China Flora of North Africa Orchids of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN