A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Cryptostylis leptochila
An erect plant with stalkless flowers with 3 greenish thin in-rolled radiating sepals and 2 pale thin inrolled petals. The 3rd and middle petal forms the labellum with the lower portion containing the reproductive organs. The rest of the labellum is abruptly erect with recurved margins and tip. The lower portion is covered with minute hairs and is a deep maroon. On the lower surface of the long thin labellum there is a dark median stripe with small dark glossy spots ( calli) on either side. Buds are covered with sheathing bracts.
Leaves are broad and slightly lance-shaped. the are seen close to the ground and have dark matt upper surface with a slight maroonish green lower surface ( pics 4 & 5).
Spotted in a reserve in the Dandenong Ranges - dry dense woodland.
This is one of a few species of terrestrial Australian orchids than bloom in mid-summer. Tubers of these plants were used as food by indigenous Australians.
Family: Orchidaceae
This orchid is pollinated by the male wasp of the species in the spotting below. The orchid is said to smell like the female wasp.and this attracts the male wasp !
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/937...
Spotted on Dec 31, 2014
Submitted on Jan 1, 2015
8 Comments
Looks like a caterpillar!
Thanks for your kind comments Vinny, Martin & Sergio.. We saw the leaves sticking out of the ground in October and no sign of flowers. We were told that they would bloom around Dec-January - and there they were ! very exciting find.
Vinny, I have a spotting of the wasp. You told me about this orchid, the wasp & the reserve about 2 months ago. Thanks for everything - I will cross link the spottings.
Amazing, Leuba.
That is cool Leuba.
Is that even a real thing?
Well spotted
Nice spot, very cool orchids, apparently pollinated by Lissopimpla excelsa wasps.
Thank you so much for choosing this spotting and highlighting the importance of leaving orchids alone ! Interesting information. Wild orchids do not transplant very well either. Thanks again.
Congrats! This spotting is being featured as a PN Fact of the Day!
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Project Noah Fact of the Day: Australia has over 1700 different species of orchid from 100 different genera. But as many as 25% of orchid extinctions occur there. Why? Many of these orchids exist in symbiosis with specific types of mycorrhizal fungi or are pollinated by a unique and specific pollinator and sometimes they need both. Without these, the orchids cease to thrive and reproduce. So please only purchase captive propagated orchids and do not remove them from the wild.
Some orchids produce pheromones to attract male thynnine wasps who copulate with the flowers and then transport the pollen on to the next flower!
Small tongue-orchid spotted in Victoria, Australia by PN user Leuba Ridgway:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/115...
Waoo !,,,naturaleza incredible y maravillosa.