''Liparis habenarina'', commonly known as the common sphinx orchid or common hobgoblin orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a deciduous, terrestrial orchid with two or three egg-shaped leaves and between eight and twenty-two brownish to purplish flowers with their lateral sepals joined at the base. It grows in the understorey of near-coastal forests.

Description

''Liparis habenarina'' is a terrestrial, 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 two underground pseudobulbs, each of which lasts for one season. There are usually three, thin, pleated, egg-shaped leaves and wide with five obvious veins. Between eight and twenty two brownish to purplish flowers, long and wide are borne on an upright flowering stem long. The dorsal sepal is long, wide and turns downward. The lateral sepals are long, wide and joined to 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 a similar length but only about wide and curve downwards. The labellum is egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base and curves downwards. It is long and wide with two ridges near its base, a greenish centre and wavy edges. Flowering occurs between January and May.

Taxonomy and naming

The common sphinx orchid was first formally described in 1864 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 ''Sturmia habenarina'' and published the description in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae''. The description was based on a specimen collected near

Rockingham Bay Rockingham Bay is a bay in Far North Queensland, Australia. The bay opens onto the Coral Sea, part of the South Pacific Ocean. Adjacent to the bay is the Girramay National Park, south of which is the town of Cardwell. Goold Island is a smal ...

John Dallachy John Dallachy (c. 1808 – 4 June 1871) was a curator of Melbourne Botanic Gardens and a plant collector. Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland. He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon to ma ...

. In the description, von Mueller noted ''Liparis habenarina'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. In 1873, George Bentham changed the name to ''Liparis habenarina'' and published the name change in '' Flora Australiensis''. 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 ...

(''habenarina'') refers to the similarity of this species to those in the orchid genus '' Habenaria''.

Distribution and habitat

''Liparis habenarina'' grows with grasses in the understorey of forests, usually near the edge of swamps in near-coastal areas. It is found in New South Wales north from

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

, in coastal Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Northern Kimberley

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

of Western Australia. Authorities using the name ''Empusa habenarina'' list the range as extending to New Guinea and Indonesia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15491931 habenarina Orchids of Australia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller