''Genoplesium woollsii'', commonly known as the dark midge-orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to New South Wales. It has a single thin, wiry leaf and in autumn has up to thirty five drooping, dark purple flowers on a flowering stem which is fused to the lower part of the leaf.

Description

''Genoplesium woollsii'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial

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 a single cylindrical, glabrous leaf fused to the flowering stem. The leaf is long and the free part is long and ends below the flowers. Between five and thirty five dark purple flowers with darker streaks are arranged on a flowering stem tall. The flowers droop forwards, and are about long, wide. As with others in the genus 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 egg-shaped, long, wide, sharply pointed and with short hairs on the edges. The lateral sepals are linear to lance-shaped, long, wide and diverge 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 egg-shaped, long, about wide with a pointed tip and short hairs on the edges. The labellum is egg-shaped, long, wide with densely hairy edges and a sharply pointed tip. There is a callus in the centre of the labellum and along about three-quarters of its length. Flowering usually occurs between February and April.

Taxonomy and naming

The dark midge orchid was first formally described in 1865 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Prasophyllum woollsii'' and published the description in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'. In 1989, David Jones and Mark Clements changed the name to ''Genoplesium woollsii''.

Distribution and habitat

The dark midge-orchid grows in heath, forest and moss gardens mainly between the Blue Mountains and Batemans Bay.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15463697 woollsii Orchids of New South Wales Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1865