''Adenochilus gracilis'' is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has a long, thin underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

, a single leaf on the flowering stem and a single white flower with glandular hairs on the outside. Its labellum has red to maroon bars and a central band of yellow calli but is almost obscured by the dorsal sepal.

Description

''Adenochilus gracilis'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous,

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with a long, thin, horizontal rhizome. There is a single egg-shaped to oblong leaf with a heart-shaped base, long near the base of the flowering stem. There is a similar leaf about halfway up the flowering stem but lacking a petiole. A single white flower wide is borne on the end of the flowering spike which is up to tall. The outer surface of the sepals and

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s is covered with short glandular hairs. The dorsal sepal is lance-shaped and forms a hood over the labellum and

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

, almost obscuring them. The lateral sepals spread widely apart from each other and the petals are similar to the sepals. The labellum curves downwards and has three lobes, the central lobe narrower than the others and has red to maroon bars and two to four rows of yellow calli in a dense central band. Flowering occurs between October and March. File:Adenochilus gracilis side.jpg, A side view, showing the green "hood." File:Adenochilus gracilis habit.jpg, The growth habit, with its singular, stem, leaf, and flower. File:Adenochilus gracilis kz03.jpg, Two plants growing together near

Makarora Makarora is a small community within the Queenstown-Lakes District of the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on on the eastern side of the Haast Pass and adjacent to the Makarora River. Local tourism operators offe ...

in Otago.

Taxonomy and naming

''Adenochilus gracilis'' was first formally described in 1853 by Joseph Dalton Hooker and the description was published in ''

Flora Novae-Zelandiae The ''Flora Novae-Zelandiae'' is a description of the plants discovered in New Zealand during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1853 and 1855. Hooker sailed on HMS ''Erebus'' as ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''gracilis'') is a Latin word meaning "slender.

Distribution and habitat

This orchid grows in thick layers of moss or partly decomposed leaf litter in scrub and forests. It is found on the North,

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, Stewart and Chatham Islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14554272 gracilis Plants described in 1853 Orchids of New Zealand Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker