Prasophyllum gibbosum

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.

Humped leek orchid
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Subtribe: Prasophyllinae
Genus: Prasophyllum
Species:
P. gibbosum
Binomial name
Prasophyllum gibbosum
Synonyms

Chiloterus cucullatus (Rchb.f.) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.[2]

Description

Prasophyllum gibbosum is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single smooth green, tube-shaped leaf 50–250 mm (2–10 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) in diameter. Between five and eighty or more flowers are arranged on a flowering stem 50–350 mm (2–10 in) tall. The flowers are purplish-red and white, 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 4 mm (0.2 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 is broad and the petals face forwards. The lateral sepals have a humped base. The labellum is mostly white, has smooth edges and is turned upwards towards the lateral sepals. Flowering occurs from late September to January.[3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

The hooded leek orchid was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown from specimens collected near Albany. The description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[1][5] The specific epithet (gibbosum) is a Latin word meaning "very humped" or "crooked",[6] referring to the hump at the base of the lateral sepals.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The humped leek orchid grows in areas that are wet in winter, and only flowers prolifically after fire the previous summer. It occurs from Bunbury to Esperance in the Swan Coastal Plain, Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions.[3][4][7]

Conservation

Prasophyllum gibbosum is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[7]

References
  1. "Prasophyllum gibbosum". APNI. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  2. "Prasophyllum cucullatum". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. Hoffman, Noel; Brown, Andrew (2011). Orchids of South-West Australia (3rd ed.). Gooseberry Hill: Noel Hoffman. p. 366. ISBN 9780646562322.
  4. Brown, Andrew; Dundas, Pat; Dixon, Kingsley; Hopper, Stephen (2008). Orchids of Western Australia. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. p. 320. ISBN 9780980296457.
  5. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. London. p. 318. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 633.
  7. "Prasophyllum gibbosum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
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