''Dipodium pardalinum'', commonly known as spotted hyacinth-orchid
[ or leopard hyacinth-orchid,][ is a leafless ]hemiparasitic
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
that is endemic to south-eastern Australia.[
]
Description
For most of the year, plants are dormant and have no above-ground presence. Below the ground lie fleshy roots. Flower spikes between 40 and 90 cm in height appear between December and March in the species' native range.[ These ]racemose
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
inflorescences have 10 to 40 white to pale pink fleshy flowers with dark red spots or blotches. The tepals are strongly recurved and the three-lobed labellum has a line of white hairs.[
]
Taxonomy
The species was formally described in 1996 by botanist David L. Jones in the journal '' Muelleria''. The type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
was collected in Heathmere, Victoria.[ The specific epithet ''pardalinum'' comes from the Greek word for ]leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
(''pardos'') alluding to the spots on the flowers.[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Dipodium pardalinum'' occurs in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in open forest with an understorey of bracken or shrubs.
Victoria
It occurs in the west of the state with records from Wombat State Forest
The Wombat State Forest (locally: Bullarook) is located west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between Woodend and Daylesford, at the Great Dividing Range. The forest is approximately in size and sits upon Ordovician or Cenozoic sediments. ...
, Smythesdale
Smythesdale is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Glenelg Highway. Most of the town is located in the Golden Plains Shire local government area; however, a small section lies in the Shire of Pyrenees. Smythesdale is west ...
, Creswick
Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a populatio ...
, and Heathmere to the north of Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. A single observation has been reported from The Basin in the Dandenong Ranges.[
]
South Australia
In South Australia, the species occurs from Naracoorte on the Victorian border to the Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...
.[ In the Adelaide-Mount Lofty region the species is found in stringybark ('']Eucalyptus obliqua
''Eucalyptus obliqua'', commonly known as messmate stringybark or messmate, but also known as brown top, brown top stringbark, stringybark or Tasmanian oak, is a species of tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough, stringy or ...
'') woodland growing in association with ''Acacia myrtifolia
''Acacia myrtifolia'', known colloquially as myrtle wattle, red stem wattle or red-stemmed wattle, is a species of ''Acacia'' native to coastal areas of southern and eastern Australia.
Description
It is a small, bushy and glabrous shrub that t ...
'', ''Xanthorrhoea semiplana
''Xanthorrhoea semiplana'' is a species of grass tree found in south-eastern Australia. It has two subspecies:
* ''Xanthorrhoea semiplana'' ssp. ''semiplana'' – Tufted grass tree, found on the Eyre, Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas, south- ...
'' ssp. tateana and ''Pteridium esculentum
''Pteridium esculentum'', commonly known as bracken fern, Austral bracken or simply bracken, is a species of the bracken genus native to a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Esculentum means edible. First described as ''Pteris escul ...
''.[ It does not grow in proximity to other ''Dipodium'' species as is the case elsewhere.][ Prior to recognition as a distinct taxon, this population was regarded as a variety of '' Dipodium roseum''.]Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide.
History
Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the K ...
, the species is threatened by an invasion of broom (''Genista monspessulana
''Genista monspessulana'', commonly known as French broom, Montpellier broom, or Cape broom (Australia), is a woody leguminous perennial shrub. The yellow-flowering bush is native to the Mediterranean region, and while it may still be commonly ...
'').[
]
Ecology
Pollination of this species, as for all species in the genus, is by native bees and wasps.[
]
Conservation
The species is listed as "rare" on the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries' advisory list of rare or threatened plants in Victoria and "vulnerable" in South Australia.
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.
References
External links
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*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15453359
pardalinum
Orchids of Victoria (state)
Endemic orchids of Australia
Orchids of South Australia