Adenochilus
{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
| display_parents = 3
| name = Gnome orchids
| image = Adenochilus gracilis kz02 - cropped.jpg
| image_caption = Adenochilus gracilis near Makarora in New Zealand
| taxon = Adenochilus
| authority = Hook.f.{{WCSP | 3049 | Adenochilus }}
| type_species = Adenochilus gracilis
| type_species_authority = Hook.f.
}}
Adenochilus, commonly known as gnome orchids is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae, one endemic to New Zealand and the other to Australia. Both species have a long, horizontal, underground rhizome with a single leaf on the flowering stem and a single resupinate flower with its dorsal sepal forming a hood over the labellum and column.
Description
Orchids in the genus Adenochilus are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs with a long, thin, horizontal underground rhizome and a single leaf either on a long stalk or attached to the flowering stem. When present, there is a single resupinate flower on the end of the flowering stem. The dorsal sepal is free and forms a hood over the labellum and column. The lateral sepals and petals are free from each other, longer and narrower than the dorsal sepal, and spread widely apart. The labellum is also free, attached at the base of the column by a short stalk or "claw". The labellum is curved and has a narrow central band of yellow calli.{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page =266}}{{cite book |editor-last1=Pridgeon |editor-first1=Alec M. |editor-last2=Cribb |editor-first2=Phillip J. |editor-last3=Chase |editor-first3=Mark W. |editor-last4=Rasmussen |editor-first4=Finn N. |title=Genera Orchidacearum. Volume 2, Orchidoideae (part 1) |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=0198507100 |pages=86–87}}{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Peter J. |title=Genus Adenochilus |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=gn&name=Adenochilus |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=27 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=Adenochilus |url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/orchidkey/html/genera/Adenochilus.htm |publisher=Australian National Botanic Garden |access-date=27 June 2018}}
Taxonomy and naming
The genus Adenochilus was first formally described in 1853 by Joseph Dalton Hooker and the description was published in Flora Novae-Zelandiae.{{cite web|title=Adenochilus|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/489395|publisher=APNI|access-date=27 June 2018}}{{cite book|last1=Hooker|first1=Joseph Dalton|title=The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae|date=1853|publisher=Lovell Reeve and Co.|location=London|pages=246–247|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54141#page/297/mode/1up|access-date=27 June 2018}} Hooker described A. gracilis in the same publication, making it the type species. The name Adenochilus is derived from the Ancient Greek words aden meaning "gland"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}{{rp|69}} and cheilos meaning "lip",{{rp|200}} referring to the labellum calli of these two species.
Distribution and habitat
Adenochilus gracilis Hook.f. is widespread in New Zealand where it often grows in deep leaf litter under beech trees and sometimes near wetlands. It is found on both the North and South Islands and on Stewart and Chatham Islands.{{cite web |title=Adenochilus gracilis |url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=1474 |publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |access-date=27 June 2018}}{{cite web |title=Adenochilus gracilis |url=https://www.nativeorchids.co.nz/Species/Adenochilus_gracilis.html |publisher=New Zealand Native Orchid Group |access-date=27 June 2018}}
Adenochilus nortonii Fitzg. has a restricted distribution in New South Wales, growing at altitudes of {{convert|400-1000|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} in the Blue Mountains, Barrington Tops and Point Lookout areas, often growing under Antarctic beech trees.{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Peter J. |title=Adenochilus nortonii |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Adenochilus~nortonii |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=27 June 2018}}