''Cymbidium canaliculatum'', commonly known as the channelled boat-lip orchid, tiger boat-lip orchid, native cymbidium or tiger orchid is a plant in the orchid family and is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a clump-forming

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

with large, greyish green pseudobulbs, each with up to six curved, deeply channelled leaves and up to sixty fragrant, variably coloured flowers that often have spots and blotches and a white to cream-coloured labellum with red markings. This orchid usually grows in the forks or hollows of trees and is found from New South Wales to the northern parts of Western Australia. Cycan

Description

''Cymbidium canaliculatum'' is an epiphytic, clump-forming

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 greyish green pseudobulbs long and wide. Each pseudobulb has between two and six rigid, fleshy, curved, deeply channelled leaves and wide. Between five and sixty flowers, long and wide are borne on a flowering stem long. The flowers are olive green, yellow, brown or purple often with spots, blotches or both. The sepals are long and wide and the

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 are long and wide. The labellum is usually white with red or purple markings, long and wide with three lobes. The side lobes are erect and the middle lobe curves downwards with a warty or hairy upper surface and two ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs between September and October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cymbidium canaliculatum'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who published the description in '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. 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 ...

(''canaliculatum'') is derived from the Latin word ''canaliculus'' meaning "canal" or "channel".

Distribution and habitat

The channelled boat-lip orchid grows in the forks or hollows of trees in woodlands and drier forests in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of Western Australia, the northern parts of the Northern Territory, (including Melville Island) and from the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland south to the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

in New South Wales.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1308915 canaliculatum Plants described in 1810 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Queensland Orchids of the Northern Territory Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Western Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)