Diuris calcicola
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Speciesbox
| name =
| image =
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| genus = Diuris
| species = calcicola
| authority = R.J.Bates{{cite web |title=Diuris calcicola |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/4890902 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=21 June 2023}}
}}
Diuris brevifolia is a species of orchid that is endemic to South Australia. It usually has one or two grass-like leaves and a flowering stem with up to five bright yellow and reddish-brown flowers with purple stalks.
Description
Diuris calcicola is a tuberous, terrestrial herb usually with one or two grass-like leaves {{cvt|100–200|mm}} long and {{convert|3-5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, often with a purplish base. Up to five bright yellow flowers with purple stalks and {{cvt|10–15|mm}} wide are borne on a flowering stem {{cvt|100–200|mm}} tall. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, glossy yellow with two brown blotches, {{cvt|10-12|mm}} long, {{cvt|8–10|mm}} wide, the lateral sepals green or purplish and linear, {{cvt|5–8|mm}} long, about {{cvt|2|mm}} wide and pendent. The petals are erect and glossy yellow on slender purplish stalks, {{cvt|6–12|mm}} long and about {{cvt|8|mm}} wide. The labellum is yellow and brown with three lobes, the middle lobe spatula-shaped, {{cvt|5–6|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide with side lobes about {{cvt|7|mm}} long, {{cvt|5|mm}} wide and yellow with a few irregular reddish-brown markings.{{cite journal |last1=Bates |first1=Robert J. |title=Diuris calcicola a new species of mallee donkey orchid from South Australia. |journal=Australian Orchid Review |date=2015 |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=43–46 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/310598#page/45/mode/1up |access-date=21 June 2023}}
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris calcicola was first formally described in 2015 by Robert John Bates in Australian Orchid Review from specimens he collected {{cvt|50|km}} east of Kingston in 2013.{{cite web|title=Duiris calcicola|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/4892141|publisher=APNI|accessdate=21 June 2023}} The specific epithet (calcicola) means "limestone favouring", referring to the preferred habitat of this species.
Distribution and habitat
This donkey orchid usually grows on limestone plains and rises, in mallee woodland or shrubland, sometimes in grassy woodland mostly to the east of the Murray River in south-eastern South Australia.
References
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Category:Orchids of South Australia
Category:Endemic orchids of Australia