''Phreatia crassiuscula'', commonly known as the green caterpillar orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is an

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

or lithophyte with three to six fleshy, channelled leaves in a fan-like arrangement. Up to sixty tiny white, cream-coloured or greenish flowers are arranged along a curved flowering stem. It is endemic to tropical North Queensland.

Description

''Phreatia crassiuscula'' is an epiphytic or lithophytic

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 short stem, thin roots and between three and six thick, fleshy, dark green deeply channelled leaves long and about wide in a fan-like arrangement. Between twenty and sixty white, cream-coloured or greenish, non-resupinate flowers long and wide are arranged along a flowering stem long that is erect at first, then curves downwards. The sepals 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 are about long and spread widely apart from each other. The labellum is about long and wide and dished. Flowering occurs between January and April.

Taxonomy and naming

''Phreatia crassiuscula'' was first formally described in 1945 by

William Henry Nicholls William Henry Nicholls (23 July 1885 – 10 March 1951) was an Australian amateur botanist, authority on, and collector of Australian orchids. An accomplished photographer and watercolourist, he contributed almost 100 articles on orchids to ''The ...

who published the description in ''

The Victorian Naturalist ''The Victorian Naturalist'' is a bimonthly scientific journal covering natural history, especially of Australia. It is published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and is received as part of the membership subscription of that club. From ...

'' from a specimen collected on

Mount Bartle Frere Mount Bartle Frere (pronunciation �mæɔnt̥ ˈbɐːɾəɫ ˈfɹɪə Ngajanji: Choorechillum) is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of . The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1st Baronet, Sir Henry Bartle Frere ...

by Alf Glindeman. Nicholls noted that there were specimens of the same species in

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 ...

's herbarium and that Mueller had named ''Oberonia crassiuscula''. Nicholls described the epithet ''crassiuscula'' "an eminently fitting one, referring as it does to its salient characteristic, namely, the thick fleshy '' Crassula''-like foliage".

Distribution and habitat

The green caterpillar orchid usually grows on mossy rainforest trees between the Cedar Bay and Paluma Range National Parks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15484119 crassiuscula Plants described in 1945 Orchids of Queensland Endemic orchids of Australia