ORCHIDACEAE

Wax-lip Orchid

 

0.1m - 0.3m (10-30cm) 

1-2 mauve to purple flowers (occassionally white), and an ovate, lanceolate labellum that is white at the base and purple-tipped with fused tall yellow basal calli. 

Papery capsule 

Broadly lanceolate, hairy, oblique leaf. 

Break O'Day; Brighton; Burnie; Central Coast; Central Highlands; Circular Head; Clarence; Derwent Valley; Devonport; Dorset; Flinders Island; Georgetown; Glamorgan-Spring Bay; Glenorchy; Hobart; Huon Valley; Kentish; King Island; Kingborough; Latrobe; Launceston; Meander Valley; Northern Midlands; Sorell; Southern Midlands; Tasman; Waratah-Wynyard; West Coast; West Tamar 

Dry Eucalypt Forest and Woodland; Grassy Vegetation; Heath 

Heathy and grassy open eucalypt forest, woodland, shrubland and heathland, usually on well-drained sandy soils and gravelly loams. Widely distributed and often abundant in eastern and north-eastern Tas., including Bass Strait Is. including lowland areas up to 400m. Also in Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic. and SA. 

Dry; Exposed; Shady 

Moderate 

Loam; Poor; Sandy; Well-drained 

Found in habitats where fires occur very frequently. Flowering increases significantly after fires and flowers tend to be larger. The flowers increase noticeably in size during the first few days after opening. There are locallised populations with a high percentage of white flowers. Well rerepresented in reserves. Suitable below powerlines. 

 

Standard 

 

 

Orchid seeds are very minute yellow, brown or blackish dust-like particles. Orchid seeds are produced within a capsule that splits at maturity and releases tousands to millions of seeds. Dispersed by wind and water and only germinate following infection of the embryo by a suitable mycorrhizal fungus. Very few seeds become mature plants. For more information see Jones, Wapstra, Tonelli, Harris (1999): The Orchids of Tasmania.