''Gastrodia cooperae'', also known as Cooper's black potato orchid, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Orchidaceae 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 ...

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 elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The specific epithet ''cooperae'' refers to Dorothy A. Cooper, founder of the New Zealand Native Orchid Group. ''Gastrodia cooperae'' is a parasitic orchid; it produces no chlorophyll. The plant is listed in New Zealand as 'Threatened - Nationally Critical'. There are only three known sites where it grows, and it is believed that fewer than 250 mature specimens are living today.

References

External links

''Gastropodia cooperae'' at the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
cooperae Endangered plants Endemic orchids of New Zealand Plants described in 2016 {{Epidendroideae-stub