Yawning leek orchid | |
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Prasophyllum hians growing near Donnybrook | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
Tribe: | Diurideae |
Subtribe: | Prasophyllinae |
Genus: | Prasophyllum |
Species: | P. hians |
Binomial name | |
Prasophyllum hians Rchb.f. [1] | |
Prasophyllum hians, commonly known as the yawning leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a common, tall leek orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to fifty or more pink and fawn flowers with a frilly labellum.
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 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.
In botany, the labellum is the part of the flower of an orchid or Canna, or other less-known genera that serves to attract insects, which pollinate the flower, and acts as a landing platform for them.
Prasophyllum hians is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single smooth green, tube-shaped leaf 150–300 mm (6–10 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) in diameter. Between twenty and fifty or more flowers are arranged on a flowering stem 150–300 mm (6–10 in) tall. The flowers are pink and fawn, about 8 mm (0.3 in) long and wide. As with others in the genus, the flowers are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The lateral sepals are joined to each other and the petals face forwards. The labellum is white, turns upwards through about 90° and has a frilly edge. Flowering occurs from September to November. [2] [3]
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.
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 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.
Prasophyllum hians was first formally described in 1871 by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach and the description was published in Beitrage zur Systematischen Pflanzenkunde. [1] The specific epithet (hians) is a Latin word meaning "open" or "gaping", [4] referring to the open appearance of the flower. [3]
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.
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 ."
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.
The yawning leek orchid grows in a range of habitats from wet areas to forest between Dongara and Israelite Bay in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. [2] [3] [5]
Dongara is a town 351 kilometres (218 mi) north-northwest of Perth, Western Australia on the Brand Highway. The town is located at the mouth of the Irwin River. The area has been marketed as the 'Rock lobster capital of Australia'.
The Avon Wheatbelt is an Australian bioregion in Western Australia and part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion.
Prasophyllum hians is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [5]
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.
Prasophyllum gracile, commonly known as the little laughing leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is one of the most common and widespread orchids in the south-west and has a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to forty or more, usually yellowish-green flowers.
Prasophyllum sargentii, commonly known as the frilled 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 thirty or more purplish and white or golden brown and white flowers with a frilled labellum.
Prasophyllum fimbria, commonly known as the fringed leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall orchid with a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to seventy greenish-brown flowers with a white and pink labellum.
Prasophyllum brownii, commonly known as the Christmas leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is one of the last of the genus in Western Australia to flower and has a tall flowering stem with up to eighty pale green and fawn-coloured flowers.
Prasophyllum calcicola, commonly known as the limestone leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Australia. It has a single, smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to twelve yellowish-green flowers on an erect flowering stem. It is found in coastal areas of Western Australia and South Australia growing on soils derived from limestone.
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.
Prasophyllum cyphochilum, commonly known as the pouched leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a relatively common orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to thirty or more pale yellow and brown flowers. The flowers do not open fully, are more or less cup-shaped and have a "humped" labellum.
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.
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.
Prasophyllum giganteum, commonly known as the bronze leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall, fragrant leek orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to fifty or more green and pinkish-purple flowers with a frilly labellum.
Prasophyllum gracillimum, commonly known as the slender leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to a small region of Western Australia. It has a single tubular green leaf, and green, brown and white flowers loosely arranged along the flowering stem. This species has not been seen for more than fifty years and is considered by some botanists to be a form of P. fimbria.
Prasophyllum macrostachyum, commonly known as the laughing leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to thirty yellowish-green and purple flowers. It is one of the few Western Australian leek orchids which is not stimulated by summer fires and also has an unusually long flowering period.
Prasophyllum macrotys, commonly known as the inland leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single tubular leaf and up to thirty greenish to purplish flowers and is similar to the tall leek orchid but has smaller, darker flowers.
Prasophyllum parvifolium, commonly known as the autumn leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a common species in its range and has a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to eighteen or more green and white flowers with red stripes.
Prasophyllum odoratissimum, commonly known as the scented leek orchid or fragrant leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Western Australia. It has a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to thirty or more scented, greenish, white and fawn-coloured flowers with a labellum which is often bent backwards. It was formerly included in Prasophyllum odoratum.
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.
Prasophyllum paulinae, commonly known as Pauline's leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, rare leek orchid with a single smooth, tubular leaf and up to seventy yellowish-green and purple flowers.
Prasophyllum plumiforme, commonly known as the dainty 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 fifty or more tiny cream-coloured or greenish-yellow flowers on a tall flowering stem.
Prasophyllum regium, commonly known as the king leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single, unusually thick tubular leaf and up to one hundred relatively large, greenish-brown or burgundy-coloured flowers. It is one of the tallest leek orchids, sometimes growing to a height of 2 m (7 ft).
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.