ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

The Tongue of the Blue Bull

**Blue-lipped Lily of the Valley**
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The Blue-lipped Lily of the Valley (Listera ovata) is a plant species belonging to the genus Listera.

**Environment and Distribution**
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Its native habitat is the Mediterranean basin and Europe, where it is found in various regions, including:

* The Levant
* Sinai
* Eastern Morocco
* Turkey
* Greece
* Cyprus
* The Balkans
* Eastern Europe
* Southern Europe

The plant has also been reported to be present in North Africa, Western Asia, and parts of Central Asia.

**Description**
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Blue-lipped Lily of the Valley is a perennial plant that reaches a height of 30-80 cm (rarely up to 100 cm). It has branching stems with lanceolate or linear leaves. The flowers are a deep blue color, typically measuring 8-15 mm in diameter, and consist of five bright blue petals.

**Flowers and Fruits**
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The flowers bloom from May to September, and the round fruits (capsules) measure 6-7 × 3 mm, with a slightly humped shape. The fruits are white or gray in color.

**Distribution by Region**
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* Africa: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Eritrea
* Asia: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kazakhstan, Kirgyzistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan
* Europe: Hungary, Moldova, Russia (European part), Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy (Sardinia and Sicily), Serbia, Slovenia, France (Corsica)

**Synonyms for Scientific Name**
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The scientific name Listera ovata is used to refer to this plant species.

Note: The original sources provided had some inconsistencies in formatting and content. I have attempted to merge the information into a cohesive article while preserving the factual data, numbers, dates, and names.