Diuris amabilis
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Speciesbox
| name =
| image = Diuris amabilis.jpg
| status = In the Australian Capital Territory
| status_system =
| status_ref =
| image_caption =
| genus = Diuris
| species = amabilis
| authority = D.L.Jones{{cite web |title=Diuris amabilis |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77205282-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=19 September 2023}}
}}
Diuris amabilis, commonly known as lovely moths,{{cite book |last1=Copeland |first1=Lachlan M. |last2=Backhouse |first2=Gary N. |title=Guide to Native Orchids of NSW and ACT |date=2022 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |location=Clayton South, Victoria |isbn=9781486313686 |pages=188–189}} is a species of orchid that is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It has between four and eight grass-like leaves, a flowering stem with up to five yellow flowers with a few dark streaks, and a yellow to orange labellum. The flowers appear from late September to November.
Description
Diuris behrii is a tuberous, perennial herb with between four and eight grass-like, linear to narrow linear leaves {{cvt|100–250|mm}} long and {{cvt|3–6|mm}} wide. Up to five yellow flowers are borne on a flowering stem {{cvt|200–500|mm}} tall, each flower on a pedicel {{cvt|7–30|mm}} long. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, up to {{cvt|13–18|mm}} long, {{cvt|7–11|mm}} and leans forwards at its lower half then erect. The lateral sepals are narrowly egg-shaped to spatula-shaped, {{cvt|18–25|mm}} long, {{cvt|3.0–4.5|mm}} wide, turned beneath the labellum and parallel to each other. The petals are nearly horizontal or droop, elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped, {{cvt|17–27|mm}} long, {{cvt|2.0–2.5|mm}} wide on a stalk {{cvt|3–5|mm}} long. The labellum has three lobes, the lateral lobes narrowly triangular, {{cvt|3.0–3.5|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–2|mm}} wide, the mid-lobe broadly egg-shaped, {{cvt|16–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|11–15|mm}} wide. There are two pimply orange calli {{cvt|5–7|mm}} long near the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from late September to November.{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=David L. |title=Two new species of Diuris R.Br. from eastern Australia. |journal=Australian Orchid Review |date=2019 |volume=84 |issue=6 |pages=31–33 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/310635#page/33/mode/1up |access-date=19 September 2023}}
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris amabilis was first formally described in 2019 by David Jones in Australian Orchid Review from a specimen collected near Bookham in 1992.{{cite web|title=Duiris amabilis|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/51346918|publisher=APNI|access-date=19 September 2023}} The specific epithet (amabilis) means "lovely", referring to the flowers of this orchid.
Distribution and habitat
Lovely orchid mostly grows in grassland, grassy woodland and forest, and around swamps at altitudes between {{cvt|200 and 1100|m}}. It is found south from Orange in New South Wales to near Tooborac in central northern Victoria. There is a single record from the Australian Capital Territory. Records of Diuris behrii from these areas are now referrable to D. amabilis.