Family Orchidaceae Tribe Cymbidieae Rank Species | ||
Similar Dipodium pardalinum, Dipodium punctatum, Dipodium roseum, Dipodium variegatum, Dipodium | ||
Dipodium campanulatum, commonly known as bell-flower hyacinth-orchid, is a leafless mycoheterotroph orchid that is endemic to south-eastern Australia.
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Description
For most of the year, plants are dormant and have no above-ground presence. Below the ground lie fleshy roots. A single flower spike up to 70 cm in height appears in December and January. The racemose inflorescence has a green or reddish stem supporting 15 to 35 white fleshy bell-shaped flowers with dark red spots or blotches. The species was formally described in 1991 by Australian botanist David Lloyd Jones. The type specimen was collected in Naracoorte in South Australia. Plants belonging to this species had formerly been included in a wider circumscription of Dipodium punctatum.
Distribution and habitat
Dipodium campanulatum occurs in the Naracoorte Ranges in South Australia and near Apsley in Victoria. Associated tree species include stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri or Eucalyptus arenacea) and Eucalyptus leucoxylon. Other associated species include wattles Acacia spp., bracken Pteridium esculentum, cranberry heath (Astroloma humifusum) and magenta storksbill (Pelargonium rodneyanum).
Ecology
Pollination of this species, as for all species in the genus, is by native bees and wasps.
Conservation
The species is listed as "vulnerable" in South Australia and "endangered" in Victoria on the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries' advisory list of rare or threatened plants in Victoria
Cultivation
No leafless species of Dipodium has been sustained in cultivation due to the inability to replicate its association with mycorrhizal fungi in a horticultural context.