''Genoplesium littorale'', commonly known as the Tuncurry midge orchid, is a species of small terrestrial orchid endemic that is endemic to New South Wales. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to thirty small green flowers with a purple-brown labellum. It is only known from fewer than two thousand plants in a small area on the New South Wales North Coast and is critically endangered.

Description

''Genoplesium littorale'' 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, dark green leaf, long with a reddish base and fused to the flowering stem with the free part long. Between five and thirty green flowers are crowded along a flowering stem tall. The flowers lean downwards, are about long, wide and 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 about long and wide with a pointed tip and hairless edges. The lateral sepals are about long, wide, point downwards and spread widely apart from each other. 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 about long, wide, with a sharply pointed tip and hairless edges. The labellum is purplish brown, oblong, about long, wide with a curled, sharply pointed tip and hairless edges. There is a callus in the centre of the labellum and extending almost to its tip. Flowering occurs from March to May.

Taxonomy and naming

The Tuncurry midge orchid was first formally described in 2001 by David Jones from a specimen collected near

Tuncurry Tuncurry is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Coast Council LGA, about north north east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin town of Forster, which is the larger of the two t ...

and the description was published in ''The Orchadian''. In 2002, David Jones and Mark Clements changed the name to ''Corunastylis littorale'' 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 ...

(''littorale'') is derived from the Latin word ''littus'' meaning "shore".

Distribution and habitat

''Genoplesium littorale'' grows in scrub on stabilised sand dunes in the Forster-

area.

Ecology

Five species of flies in the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Conioscinella ''Conioscinella'' is a genus of fly in the family Chloropidae The Chloropidae are a family of flies commonly known as frit flies or grass flies. About 2000 described species are in over 160 genera distributed worldwide. These are usually very ...

'' and '' Cadrema'' have been shown to pollinate ''G. littorale''. The insects are rewarded with nectar, although the nectar supply is quickly depleted by visiting flies.

Conservation

In 2010, the total population of the ''G. littorale'' was estimated to be 1,960 plants. The species is threatened by weed invasion, grazing by rabbits and possible future residential developments. It is listed as "critically endangered" (CR) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and under the New South Wales Government NSW ''New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15462940 littorale Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Plants described in 2001