''Erythrorchis cassythoides'', commonly known as the black bootlace orchid, is a leafless climbing

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 flowerin ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Orchidaceae. It has long, dark brown to blackish stems and groups of up to thirty yellowish to greenish, sweetly scented flowers and 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 else ...

to eastern Australia.

Description

''Erythrorchis cassythoides'' is a leafless, climbing, mycotrophic herb that has thin, wiry, dark brown to blackish stems up to long and branching groups of flowers with between ten and thirty resupinate flowers. The groups of flowers are long, each flower yellow to greenish and wide. The

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 coine ...

s and petals are long and wide with the

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 co ...

sepals and petals curved and spreading apart from each other. The labellum is white, long, wide with wavy or crinkled edges but has brown or reddish streaks as it ages. There is a

callus A callus is an area of thickened and sometimes hardened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Since repeated contact is required, calluses are most often found on the feet and hands, but they may o ...

consisting of a hairy plate and two round ridges in the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs from August to December and is followed by the fruit which is a capsule long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

The black bootlace orchid was first formally described by Richard Cunningham who sent a specimen and hand-written description to his brother Allan, giving the plant the name ''Dendrobium cassythoides''. Allan Cunningham, in turn sent the description to John Lindley who published it in '' Edwards's Botanical Register''. In 1986,

Leslie Andrew Garay Leslie Andrew Garay (August 6, 1924 - August 19, 2016), born Garay László András, was an American botanist. He was the curator of the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, where he succeeded Charles Schweinfurth in 1958. In 1957 ...

changed the name to ''Erythrorchis cassythoides''. In the note to his brother, Richard Cunningham wrote that he had called the plant "Cassythoides, from the ''prima facie'' resemblance it has to the genus

Cassytha ''Cassytha'' is a genus of some two dozen species of obligately parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae. Superficially, and in some aspects of their ecology, they closely resemble plants in the unrelated genus ''Cuscuta'', the dodders.Web ...

, not only in its leafless character and short racemes of flowers, but in its peculiar bronze or japanned papulose stems - it may be found, that it also resembles it in its climbing propensities." John Lindley noted "It is not a little remarkable that so highly curious a plant as this should so long have been over looked, although a native of a locality which, as Mr. Allan Cunningham remarks, has doubtless been traversed by Botanists of many countries in Europe, who have visited Port Jackson in ships of discovery since the Colony was founded in January 1788, viz., French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, &c., besides many of our own countrymen."

Distribution and habitat

''Erythrorchis cassythoides'' grows in forest on

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s, stumps and logs in near-coastal areas and nearby tablelands between the Blackdown Tableland in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and

Waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

in the

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney. The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the loca ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10274203 Vanilleae Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Queensland Plants described in 1836