Prasophyllum drummondii

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Swamp leek orchid
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Subtribe: Prasophyllinae
Genus: Prasophyllum
Species:P. drummondii
Binomial name
Prasophyllum drummondii
Lindl.
Synonyms [1]

Prasophyllum ellipticum R.Br. [2]

Prasophyllum drummondii, commonly known as the swamp leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a late-flowering species with a single tubular leaf and up to thirty brownish-orange or pale yellow flowers and often grows in standing water.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Western Australia State in Australia

Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, and the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of 2,529,875 square kilometres, and the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. The state has about 2.6 million inhabitants – around 11 percent of the national total – of whom the vast majority live in the south-west corner, 79 per cent of the population living in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated.

Contents

Description

Prasophyllum drummondii is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and which often grows in clumps. It has a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf 250–700 mm (10–30 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) in diameter near the base. Between ten and thirty or more flowers are arranged on a flowering spike 300–800 mm (10–30 in) high. The flowers are brownish-orange, sometimes yellow, 12–14 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long and about 10 mm (0.4 in) wide. As with others in the genus, the flowers are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal curves downwards, the petals face forwards and the lateral sepals are erect and joined to each other by their sides. The labellum is broad, turns sharply upwards and has a wavy edge. Flowering occurs from October to December. [3] [4]

Perennial plant Plant that lives for more than two years

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. Some sources cite perennial plants being plants that live more than three years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials.

Deciduous trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally

In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous (/dɪˈsɪdʒuəs/) means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit.

Herbaceous plant Plant which has no persistent woody stem above ground

Herbaceous plants in Botany, frequently shortened to herbs, are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground. Herb has other meanings in cooking, medicine, and other fields. Herbaceous plants are those plants that do not have woody stems, they include many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials, they include both forbs and graminoids.

Taxonomy and naming

Prasophyllum drummondii was first formally described in 1871 by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach and the description was published in Beitrage zur Systematischen Pflanzenkunde . [1] [5] The specific epithet (drummondii) honours the naturalist James Drummond who collected the type specimen near the Swan River in 1801. [4]

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach German botanist

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was a botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach was also a well-known botanist.

Botanical name scientific name for a plant (or alga or fungus) (ICNafp)

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups ."

James Drummond (botanist) Australian botanist

James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.

Distribution and habitat

The swamp leek orchid grows in wet places, including swamps which still contain free water in early summer. It occurs between Three Springs and Israelite Bay. [3] [4] [6]

Three Springs, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Three Springs is located 313 km north of Perth, Western Australia on the Midlands Road. The town is the seat of the Shire of Three Springs; wheat farming is the main industry of both the town and the Shire.

Conservation

Prasophyllum drummondii is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [6]

Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia) department of the Government of Western Australia

The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 and implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. The minister responsible for the department was the Minister for the Environment.

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<i>Prasophyllum fimbria</i> species of plant

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<i>Prasophyllum lindleyanum</i> species of plant

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<i>Prasophyllum brownii</i> species of plant

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Prasophyllum cucullatum, commonly known as the hooded leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to fifty or more purplish-red and white flowers with a frilled labellum crowded along a relatively short flowering stem.

<i>Prasophyllum cyphochilum</i> species of plant

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Prasophyllum gibbosum, commonly known as the humped leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a late-flowering leek orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to eighty or more purplish-red and white flowers with a smooth labellum. It is similar to P. cucullatum but that species has a frilly labellum, usually a shorter flowering stem and an earlier flowering period.

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Prasophyllum ovale, commonly known as the little leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small leek orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to twenty or more white, green and brown flowers with the labellum only slightly upturned.

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Prasophyllum triangulare, commonly known as the dark leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall orchid with a single, purplish to blackish, tubular leaf and up to thirty or more relatively large, greyish-purple to brownish-purple flowers. It only flowers after fire the previous summer.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Prasophyllum drummondii". APNI. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. "Prasophyllum brownii". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. 1 2 Hoffman, Noel; Brown, Andrew (2011). Orchids of South-West Australia (3rd ed.). Gooseberry Hill: Noel Hoffman. p. 377. ISBN   9780646562322.
  4. 1 2 3 Brown, Andrew; Dundas, Pat; Dixon, Kingsley; Hopper, Stephen (2008). Orchids of Western Australia. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. p. 332. ISBN   9780980296457.
  5. Reichenbach, Heinrich G. (1871). Beitrage zur Systematischen Pflanzenkunde. Hamburg: Th. G. Meissner. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Prasophyllum drummondii". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.