Kingdom Plantae Family Orchidaceae Tribe Cymbidieae Rank Species | Order Asparagales Subfamily Epidendroideae Genus Dipodium | |
Similar Dipodium atropurpureum, Dipodium variegatum, Dipodium punctatum, Dipodium roseum, Dipodium | ||
Dipodium pulchellum is a leafless mycoheterotrophic orchid that is endemic to north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland in 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. Flower spikes between 27 and 90 cm in height appear in summer. These racemose inflorescences have 5 to 40 pink flowers with darker blotches. The sepals and petals are more or less straight and the labellum is dark-reddish pink with mauve hairs.
Taxonomy
The species was formally described in 1987 by Australian botanists David Lloyd Jones and Mark Clements. The type specimen was collected in the Tallebudgera Range in Queensland.
Distribution and habitat
Dipodium pulchellum occurs in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales near Wardell, Grevillia and Tia Falls.
Ecology
Pollination of this species, as for all species in the genus, is by native bees and wasps.
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..