Prasophyllum pyriforme

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Graceful 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. pyriforme
Binomial name
Prasophyllum pyriforme
Synonyms [1]

Prasophyllum chasmogamum R.J.Bates & D.L.Jones

Prasophyllum pyriforme, commonly known as the graceful leek orchid is a species of orchid species endemic to eastern Australia. It has a single tubular leaf and up to fifty greenish flowers with a pink or white labellum. As with others in the genus, the labellum is above the column rather than below it.

Contents

Description

Prasophyllum pyriforme is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single smooth dark green, tube-shaped leaf 100–250 mm (4–10 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) in diameter near its reddish base. Between thirty and fifty greenish or mauve flowers are crowded on a flowering stem 100–150 mm (4–6 in) long. The ovary is 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long, the petals are 7–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and the lateral sepals are 8–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long, erect, linear to lance-shaped and fused at their sides for most of their length. The labellum is 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, curves upwards to almost touch the lateral sepals and is pink or white with wavy edges. The callus in the centre of the labellum is greenish, wrinkled and extends almost to the tip of the labellum. Flowering occurs in November and December. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy and naming

Prasophyllum pyriforme was first formally described in 1933 by Edith Coleman and the description was published in The Victorian Naturalist from a specimen collected near Doncaster. [1] [5] The specific epithet (pyriforme) is derived from the Latin words pyrum meaning "pear" [6] :593 and forme meaning "shape". [6] :28

Distribution and habitat

The graceful leek orchid grows in woodland and open forest and flowers more prolifically after fire. It occurs in southern and eastern Victoria and on the south coast of New South Wales.

Related Research Articles

Prasophyllum australe, commonly known as the southern leek orchid or austral leek orchid, is a species of orchid and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to fifty scented, greenish-brown flowers with red stripes.

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

Prasophyllum montanum, commonly known as the mountain leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Australia. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to fifty scented, greenish to pinkish flowers. It grows in montane ecosystems at altitudes above 1,500 m (5,000 ft).

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

Prasophyllum lindleyanum, commonly known as the green leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single smooth, tube-shaped leaf and up to twenty scented, greenish flowers with a greenish or white labellum with a pink tinge.

Prasophyllum candidum, commonly known as the Kiandra leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Australia. It has a single tubular, yellowish-green leaf and up to forty scented, bright white to greenish flowers. It grows in subalpine areas at altitudes above 1,000 m (3,000 ft) in New South Wales and Victoria although in the latter state it is considered to be a form of P. odoratum.

Prasophyllum brevilabre, commonly known as the Gorae leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to south-western Victoria. It has a single tubular, green leaf and up to forty greenish-brown flowers with reddish markings. It is a very rare orchid, now only known from two small, scattered populations. It was first recorded from Gorae West near Portland but is no longer found there.

Prasophyllum erythrocommum, commonly known as the tan leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single tubular green leaf and up to thirty small, greenish-brown to dark brown flowers. It is a very rare orchid, only known from a single small area north of Melbourne.

Prasophyllum fosteri, commonly known as the Shelford leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to a small region of Victoria. It has a single tubular green leaf and up to twenty five green to reddish-brown flowers. It is a very rare orchid, only known from a single population on a roadside.

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.

Prasophyllum hectori, commonly known as the swamp leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to New Zealand. It has a single tubular, dark green leaf and up to eighty scented, yellow-green flowers with red or brown marking. It is similar to P. colensoi, the only other species of Prasophyllum found in New Zealand, but is distinguished from it by its larger size, larger number of flowers and swampy habitat.

Prasophyllum hygrophilum, commonly known as the swamp leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to Victoria. It has a single tubular green leaf and up to thirty greenish brown, pink or mauve flowers. It is a rare orchid only known from two populations and is classified as "endangered" in Victoria.

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.

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

Prasophyllum morganii, commonly known as the Cobungra leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to a small area in Victoria. It has a single tubular leaf and up to eighty greenish flowers with purplish markings. Before being rediscovered in 2020, the plant had last been seen in 1933 and was presumed extinct.

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.

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

Prasophyllum solstitium is a species of orchid endemic to the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. It has a single tubular, bright green leaf and up to thirty five greenish-pink to purplish-red flowers crowded on the flowering stem. It grows in grassland on heavy basalt soil.

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.

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

Prasophyllum suttonii, commonly known as the mauve leek orchid, Mount Buffalo leek orchid or Buffalo leek-orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the Australian Alps. Some authorities list the species as being a Victorian endemic now extinct whilst others list is as occurring in New South Wales and extant. Descriptions of the species also differ. It has a single tube-shaped leaf and up to thirty five white flowers with purple or mauve marks.

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 3 "Prasophyllum pyriforme". APNI. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. Jeanes, Jeff. "Prasophyllum pyriforme". Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne - vicflora. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. "Prasophyllum pyriforme". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney - plantnet. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  4. "Prasophyllum pyriforme". Yarra Ranges Shire Council. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  5. Coleman, Edith (1932). "A new Victorian Prasophyllum". The Victorian Naturalist. 49: 195. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.