''Diuris corymbosa'', commonly called the common donkey orchid or wallflower orchid, is a species of

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 ...

which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is similar to the purple pansy orchid (''

Diuris longifolia ''Diuris longifolia'' is a species of orchid which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a variety of common names including purple pansy orchid, donkey orchid, common donkey orchid and wallflower orchid. It was one of the fi ...

'') but its flowers are yellow rather than purple or mauve and it flowers earlier in the year. It also resembles the winter donkey orchid (''

Diuris brumalis ''Diuris brumalis'', commonly known as the winter donkey orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is one of the first species of donkey orchid to flower in Western Australia each year and its flow ...

'') but flowers later than that species. It is one of the most common orchid species in the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

area, often forms extensive colonies and usually has numerous flowers on the one spike.

Description

''Diuris corymbosa'' is a

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

ous,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

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 ...

, usually growing to a height of with two or three leaves emerging at the base, long and wide. There are up to eight yellow flowers with purple and brown blotches, long and wide. The flowers have long, wide donkey ear-like

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, a short, wide erect

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

and narrow, hanging, sometimes crossed

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction *Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle *Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral cons ...

sepals. The labellum has three lobes, the lateral ones broad and spreading and the middle lobe short, inverted V-shaped or flattened. Flowering occurs from September, sometimes August, to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Diuris corymbosa'' was first formally described in 1840 by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

and the description was published in ''

A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...

'' as an appendix to ''

Edwards's Botanical Register ''The Botanical Register'', subsequently known as ''Edwards's Botanical Register'', was an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. It was started by the botanical illustrator Sydenham Edwards, who had previously illustrate ...

''. 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 ...

(''corymbosa'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''corymbus'' meaning "a bunch of flowers" and the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

''-osus'' meaning "an abundance of", referring to the flower clusters of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Common donkey orchid occurs between Dongara and Albany where it grows in

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, often on the margins of swamps.

Conservation

''Diuris corymbosa'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

. Image:Diuris corymbosa.jpg, ''D. corymbosa'' in

Kings Park, Perth Kings Park, (Noongar: ''Kaarta Gar-up'') is a park overlooking Perth Water and the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with ...

Image:Diuris corymbosa (6280347066).jpg, ''D. corymbosa'' Image:Diuris corymbosa (labelled).jpg, ''D. corymbosa'' labelled image

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3015993 corymbosa Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1840