Also 8 twyblade. [f. TWAY two + BLADE leaf. Cf. twa-, two-blade(s), s.v. TWO a. IV. 2.] a. An orchidaceous plant of the genus Listera, characterized by two nearly opposite broad leaves springing from the stem; esp. the Common Twayblade, L. ovata, and Mountain or Heart-leaved T., L. cordata. b. Applied to N. American species of another orchidaceous genus Liparis, with two leaves springing from the root.
a. 1578. Lyte, Dodoens, II. lvii. 224. The Twayblade or Double-leaf delighteth … in moyst … places.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. lxxxiii. 326. Of Twayblade, or herbe Bifoile.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., II. iv. 78. That [herb] which hath only two leaves…. Tway-blade.
1728. Bradley, Dict. Bot., Ophris, sive Bifolium, in English, Twyblade.
1778. Lightfoot, Flora Scot. (1789), I. 524. Ophrys ovata. Great Twayblade…. Ophrys cordata. Little Twayblade.
1785. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., xxvii. (1794), 419. Common Twayblade, or Twyblade,… is frequent in woods.
1859. Miss Yonge, Hist. Sir Thos. Thumb, iv. 21. He was no larger than the green lip of the tway-blade blossom.
1882. Cornh. Mag., Jan., 33. The twayblade and the parsley-piert are … descended from bright-hued ancestors.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Tway-blade, American, Listera convallarioides.
1905. Longm. Mag., Jan., 253. The rare mountain twayblade.
b. 1846–50. A. Wood, Class-bk. Bot., 530. Liparis lilifolia.… Tway-blade.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Tway-blade, Green-flowered, Liparis Loeselii. —, Purple-flowered, Liparis liliifolia.
