''Goodyera umbrosa'', commonly known as the native jade orchid or green jewel orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to northern Queensland where it grows in highland rainforest. It has between four and eight large, egg-shaped leaves and up to ten small pale green or pinkish flowers with the dorsal sepal 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 forming a hood over 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. ...

Description

''Goodyera umbrosa'' is a tuberous, perennial

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 loose rosette of between four and eight shiny bright green, wavy, egg-shaped leaves, long and wide. Between three and ten

resupinate Resupination is derived from the Latin word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back". "Resupination" is the noun form of the adjective "resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward". The word " ...

, pale green to pinkish flowers, long and wide are borne on a fleshy flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal is long, about wide and overlaps the petals, forming a hood over the column. The lateral sepals and petals are a similar size to the dorsal sepal with the lateral sepals spreading downwards. The labellum is hairy, broadly egg-shaped, long, about wide with a deep pouch. Flowering occurs from June to August.

Taxonomy and naming

The native jade orchid was first formally described in 2004 by David Jones and Mark Clements who gave it the name ''Eucosia umbrosa'' and published the description in ''The Orchadian''. In 2014,

Julian Shaw Julian Shaw (born 16 December 1985 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an author, filmmaker and actor, best known for directing the 2007 film ''Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story'', a British Film Institute award-winning documentary about the life of So ...

changed the name to ''Goodyera umbrosa''. 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 ...

(''umbrosa'') is a Latin word meaning "shaded".

Distribution and habitat

''Goodyera umbrosa'' usually grows in leaf litter and in rock crevices in rainforest between Mount Finnigan in

Cedar Bay National Park Ngalba Bulal is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. In 2015, Cedar Bay National Park became the Mangkalba (Cedar Bay) section of the Ngalba Bulal National Park. Geography The park is northwest of Brisbane, south o ...

and Mount Fox near Ingham.

Gallery

File:Goodyera umbrosa 41096970.jpg, Cluster of flowering ''Goodyera umbrosa''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q56451778 Orchids of Queensland Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 2004 umbrosa