Home
Calendar
Past Events
About Us
Contact
Membership
Links
Plant Database
Search
Family Index
Communities
Municipalities
Threatened Species
Botanical Glossary
Newsletters
Bush Sounds
Municipalities
Image not available.
Scientific Name
Townsonia viridis
Family Name
ORCHIDACEAE
Common Name
Beech Orchid
Status
Height
0.05m - 0.15m (5-15cm)
Flowers
small green and red flowers borne on a fleshy scape.
Fruit
Papery capsule
Form
Small fragile orchid growing in Beech forests, with small, thin, erect pale green to yellowish leaves,
Municipalities
Break O'Day; Burnie; Central Coast; Central Highlands; Circular Head; Derwent Valley; Dorset; Glenorchy; Hobart; Huon Valley; Kentish; Kingborough; Latrobe; Meander Valley; Northern Midlands; Tasman; Waratah-Wynyard; West Coast; West Tamar
Communities
Rainforest; Wet Eucalypt Forest
Habitat Notes
Prefers rainforest and tall open eucalypt forest with rainforest understorey, usually growing in moss or rotting logs, at the base of trees and occasionally on boulders. Widespread and quite common in the western half of the state from lowland to 1000m, also at Mt Maurice in the north east. Tas. endemic.
Site Tolerance
Moist; Shady; Waterlogged
Frost Tolerance
Moderate
Soil Tolerance
Clay; Fertile; Loam; Poor; Poorly-drained; Sandy
General Notes
Likely to be fire sensitive. Occurs only in mossy, shady situations in permanently moist forests, a habitat that is drastically altered for a prolonged period after fires. Well represented in reserves. Suitable below powerlines.
Propagation Details
Propagation Calendar
Flowering Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Collecting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Sowing Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Cutting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Seed Treatment Method
Standard
Seed Storage Life
Viable Seeds Per Gram
Seed Treatment Notes
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.
Germination Time
Suitable for Direct Seeding
Cuttings
Expected Time to Take Root
Expected Time to Plant Out
Propagation by Division
N.B. Transplant only from nearby to avoid disease.
Cutting Notes
Copyright 2000-2009, Understorey Network Incorporated. Updated 2024-10-10
Database development and website design by
Andrew Smith