Prasophyllum gilgai

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Gilgai leek orchid
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Subtribe: Prasophyllinae
Genus: Prasophyllum
Species:
P. gilgai
Binomial name
Prasophyllum gilgai

Prasophyllum gilgai, commonly known as the gilgai leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single tubular green leaf and up to twenty greenish brown, light brown, pink or white flowers. It is a very rare orchid with a population of fewer than fifty plants in a small area in the north of the state.

Contents

Description

Prasophyllum gilgai is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single tube-shaped leaf up to 100–150 mm (4–6 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide at the base, but which is withered by flowering time. Between ten and twenty scented flowers are loosely arranged along a flowering stem 50–120 mm (2–5 in) long, reaching to 300–500 mm (10–20 in) tall. The flowers are greenish brown, light brown, pink or white and as with others in the genus, are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped to lance-shaped and the lateral sepals are linear to lance-shaped and more or less parallel and free from each other. The petals are linear to lance-shaped and 6–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long. The labellum is white or pink, 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and turns upwards through 90° near its middle. There is a broad, raised, tapering callus in the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs from October to November. [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Prasophyllum gilgai was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones and Dean Rouse. The description was published in Australian Orchid Research from a specimen collected from near Benalla. [1] The specific epithet ( gilgai ) refers to the geological formation where this species grows. [2]

Distribution and habitat

This leek orchid grows in gilgai formations near Benalla. [2]

Conservation

Prasophyllum gilgai is listed as Endangered under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. [3]

Related Research Articles

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Prasophyllum incompositum is a species of orchid endemic to Queensland. It has a single tubular, dark green leaf and up to thirty scented, greenish-brown and white flowers. It has only been recorded from the Carnarvon National Park.

Prasophyllum litorale, commonly known as the coastal leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to southern continental Australia. It has a single tubular leaf and up to forty flowers with red and green colouring and grows in sandhills near the sea.

<i>Prasophyllum maccannii</i> Species of orchid

Prasophyllum maccannii, commonly known as the inland leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single tubular green leaf and up to forty green, greenish-pink or brownish flowers. It is found in the central-west of the state, growing in open forest.

Prasophyllum milfordense is a species of orchid endemic to Tasmania. It has a single tubular, dark green leaf and up to thirty greenish-brown, white and purplish flowers. It is a very rare orchid, only found in a single location with a population of around 240 plants.

Prasophyllum niphopedium, commonly known as the marsh leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to a small area in Victoria. It has a single tubular leaf and up to twenty greenish flowers with reddish markings. It is only known from five population on grassy alpine plains with the total number of individual plants less than five hundred.

Prasophyllum parviflorum, commonly known as the slender leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Victoria. It has a single tubular leaf and up to thirty greenish-brown to purplish flowers. Further studies of the species may indicate that some collections currently included may be of a different species.

Prasophyllum perangustum, commonly known as the Knocklofty leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Tasmania. It has a single tubular, dark green leaf and up to fifteen greenish or light brown flowers with a white labellum. It is a very rare orchid with only six plants recorded in 1993.

Prasophyllum readii, commonly known as the Streathem leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single, tubular leaf and up to twenty five scented, greenish-brown to reddish-brown flowers with a white or pinkish labellum and is only known from a swamp in the south-west of the state.

Prasophyllum robustum, commonly known as the robust leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Tasmania. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to thirty greenish-brown flowers with a white labellum. It is only known from a single population of about fifty plants, its numbers having been reduced by land clearing.

Prasophyllum spicatum, commonly known as the dense leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to southern mainland Australia. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to fifty brownish and white or greenish and white flowers crowded in a cylinder-shaped spike.

<i>Prasophyllum subbisectum</i> Species of orchid

Prasophyllum subbisectum, commonly known as the Pomonal leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single, thin tubular leaf and up to fifteen small, greenish-brown to brown flowers well-spaced along a thin flowering stem. It is only known from a small area around Stawell.

Prasophyllum uvidulum, commonly known as the summer leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single, tubular leaf and up to twenty five scented, pale green flowers with reddish markings and is only known from a swamp in the north-east of the state.

<i>Prasophyllum viretrum</i> Species of orchid

Prasophyllum viretrum is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single tubular, dark green leaf and up to thirty five scented, greenish-brown to brownish flowers and is only known from a few small populations in south-western Victoria.

Prasophyllum roseum, commonly known as the pink lip leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to southern continental Australia. It has a single tube-shaped leaf and up to thirty greenish flowers with a pink labellum. It is a recently described plant, previously included with P. fitzgeraldii, but distinguished from that species by its smaller, less crowded flowers, with more spreading lateral sepals and different labellum callus. It grows in the south-east of South Australia and in western Victoria.

References

  1. 1 2 "Prasophyllum gilgai". APNI. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Jeanes, Jeff. "Prasophyllum gilgai". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria - vicflora. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. "Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988" (PDF). Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning. Retrieved 16 November 2017.