''Genoplesium confertum'', commonly known as the crowded midge orchid, is a small terrestrial orchid endemic to the south-east of Queensland. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to sixty small, densely crowded, reddish and green flowers and grows in coastal heath.

Description

''Genoplesium confertum'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous,

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 ...

with an underground tuber and a single thin leaf long, about wide and fused to the flowering stem with the free part long. Between ten and sixty flowers are densely crowded along a flowering stem tall and slightly taller than the leaf. The flowers lean forwards, are reddish with green tips, long and about wide. The flowers are inverted so that the labellum is above the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is pinkish red, broadly egg-shaped, about long and wide. The lateral sepals are linear to lance-shaped, long, wide, spread apart from each other and have a small whitish

gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

on their tip. The

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 lance-shaped to egg-shaped, blackish red, about long and wide with a prominent gland on their tips. The labellum is dark red, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, about long, wide, with small teeth on the sides. There is a thick, fleshy callus in the centre of the labellum, covering about half of its surface and extending almost to its tip. Flowering occurs between February and May.

Taxonomy and naming

''Genoplesium confertum'' was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones from a specimen collected near the road to

Rainbow Beach Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people. It is a popular tourist destination, both in its own right and as a gateway to Fraser Islan ...

in the Great Sandy National Park and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. In 2002, David Jones and Mark Clements changed the name to ''Corunastylis conferta'' but the change is not accepted by the Australian Plant Census. 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 ...

(''conferta'') is a Latin word meaning "crowded", referring to the crowded flowers in this species.

Distribution and habitat

''Genoplesium confertum'' grows in heath on stabilised sand dunes in coastal districts between Fraser Island and Runaway Bay, including the Great Sandy National Park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15463817 confertum Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Queensland Plants described in 1991