Diuris laxiflora
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Bee orchid
| image = Diuris laxiflora (01).jpg
| image_caption = In Cranbrook
| genus = Diuris
| species = laxiflora
| authority = Lindl.{{cite web|title=Diuris laxiflora|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/79292|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=5 August 2023}}
}}
Diuris laxiflora, commonly known as bee orchid,{{FloraBase|name=Diuris laxiflora|id=1634}} is a species of orchid which is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has two to five narrowly linear leaves and up to six yellow flowers with brown markings. It is a small orchid, common within its range and about half the size of the common donkey orchid, Diuris corymbosa.
Description
Diuris laxiflora is a tuberous, perennial herb with two to five narrowly linear leaves {{cvt|150–300|mm}} long and {{cvt|2.0–3.5|mm}} wide. Up to five yellow flowers with brown markings, {{cvt|25–35|mm}} long and {{cvt|20–25|mm}} wide are borne on a flowering stem {{cvt|300–800|mm}} tall. The dorsal sepal is narrowly egg-shaped, {{cvt|7–13|mm}} long and {{cvt|5.5–8|mm}} wide, the lateral sepals parallel or crossed, {{cvt|10–14|mm}} long and {{cvt|2.0–3.5|mm}} wide. The petals are elliptic to egg-shaped or almost round, {{cvt|7–12|mm}} long and {{cvt|6–10|mm}} wide on a stalk {{cvt|3–5|mm}} long. The labellum is {{cvt|8–12|mm}} long with three lobes - the centre lobe broadly wedge-shaped, {{cvt|7–11|mm}} long and {{cvt|8–12|mm}} wide, the side lobes spread widely apart and oblong, {{cvt|4–7|mm}} long, {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide and with a prominent red blotch at the base. There is are two calli outlined with red either side of the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from September to early November.{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Andrew|last2=Dixon|first2=Kingsley|last3=French|first3=Christopher|last4=Hopper|first4=Stephen|title=Orchids of Western Australia|date=2008|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|location=Crawley, Western Australia|isbn=9780980348149|page=211}}{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=David L. |last2=French |first2=Christopher J. |title=The Characteristion of Diuris laxiflora Lindl. and the description of four new allied species from Western Australia. |journal=Australian Orchid Review |date=2013 |volume=78 |issue=1 |page=21–22 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/310584#page/23/mode/1up |access-date=5 August 2023}}{{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=124}}
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris laxiflora first described by John Lindley in 1839 and published in his "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony" (1840).{{cite web|title=Diuris laxiflora|url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/494469|publisher=APNI|accessdate=16 May 2017}} In The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants he wrote "The pedicels and ovary together are about 3 inches long, which is less than the length of the internodes. Each stem bears from 4 to 8 flowers, which seem to be dark yellow, with no spotting, but perhaps with some stains of purple."{{cite book|last1=Lindley|first1=John|title=The genera and species of orchidaceous plants.|date=1835|publisher=Ridgways, Piccadilly, London|pages=510–511|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/393780#page/522/mode/1up|accessdate=23 January 2015}}
The specific epithet (laxiflora) means "open-flowered".{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=237 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Bee orchid is endemic to the south western corner of Western Australia, occurring in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographical regions of Western Australia. It grows in sand, lateritic loam, clay and granite rock margins in winter-wet swamps.