''Trichoglottis australiensis'', commonly known as the weeping cherub orchid, is an

epiphytic 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 ...

lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

clump-forming

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

. It has thick, cord-like roots, flattened, branching stems, many thick, leathery, glossy leaves and between two and six creamy yellow flowers with reddish blotches. This orchid only occurs in tropical North Queensland.

Description

''Trichoglottis australiensis'' 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 ...

that forms coarse, untidy clumps with thick, cord-like roots and flattened branching stems long. There are a large number of thick, glossy, leathery, lance-shaped leaves long and wide scattered in two ranks along the stems. Creamy yellow

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 " ...

flowers with reddish blotches, long and wide are arranged in clusters of between two and six on flowering stems arising opposite the leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s. The dorsal

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

is about long and wide, the lateral sepals slightly wider and 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 about the same size as the dorsal sepal. The labellum is about long and wide with three lobes, the middle lobe about long and hairy. Flowering occurs from November to May.

Taxonomy and naming

''Trichoglottis australiensis'' was first formally described in 1967 by Alick Dockrill and the description was published in ''The Orchadian'' from a specimen collected in the

McIlwraith Range The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, the McIlwraith Range covers about and lies about east of the town of Coen, and north ...

by Malcolm Brown. 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 ...

(''australiensis'') refers to Australia, the ending ''-ensis'' being a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

"denoting place", "locality" or "country".

Distribution and habitat

The weeping cherub orchid grows on trees and rocks in dense vegetation along gullies and in other humid places. It only occurs in the

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and McIlwraith Ranges at altitudes between .

Conservation

This orchid is listed as "vulnerable" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9089851 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Queensland Plants described in 1967 australiensis