Cephalanthera rubra, known as red helleborine,[2] is an orchid found in Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia.

The stem is smooth at the base and densely covered with short glandular hairs higher up.

It also occurs in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and in various parts of southern Asia as far east as Iran.

[12] C. rubra forms a mycorrhizal relationship with species in the genera Leptodontidium, Phialophora and Tomentella.

[13] Cephalanthera comes from the Greek κεφαλή ανθηρός, meaning "head flowering", thought to be a reference to the protruding position of the anthers.

The Latin binomial was chosen by a French botanist named Professor Louis Claude Marie Richard.

Alternatively it may denote that the plants are similar to hellebores (a group of species in the family Ranunculaceae).

The protection of red helleborine should aim to preserve specific forest biotopes for this species.