''Gastrodia entomogama'', commonly known as the Brindabella potato orchid, is a leafless terrestrial

mycotrophic A mycotroph is a plant that gets all or part of its carbon, water, or nutrient supply through symbiotic association with fungi. The term can refer to plants that engage in either of two distinct symbioses with fungi: *Many mycotrophs have a mut ...

orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It has a dark brown or blackish flowering stem with up to sixty brown, warty, tube-shaped flowers. It is only known for certain from the Australian Capital Territory.

Description

''Gastrodia entomogama'' is a leafless terrestrial, mycotrophic

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 ...

that has a thick, fleshy, brittle, dark brown to blackish flowering stem bearing between five and sixty light brown to dark brown, tube-shaped flowers that are rough and warty outside and white inside. The sepals and

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 joined, forming a tube long. The petals have irregular or wavy edges. The labellum is long, wide and white with orange-coloured edges. Flowering occurs from December to January but the flowers are

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Gastrodia entomogama'' was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones from a specimen he collected on Mount Franklin in 1990. The description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. 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 ...

(''entomogama'') is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''entomon'' meaning "insect" and ''gamos'' meaning "marriage" or "union", referring to the flowers originally being described as insect-pollinated.

Distribution and habitat

The Brindabella potato orchid grows with shrubs and grasses in forest. It is only known for certain from a few locations in the Australian Capital Territory.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15477863 entomogama Plants described in 1964 Terrestrial orchids Orchids of the Australian Capital Territory