Diuris pallescens
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
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| genus = Diuris
| species = pallescens
| authority = D.L.Jones & C.J.French{{cite web|title=Diuris pallescens|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/236547|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=10 August 2023}}
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Diuris pallescens, commonly known as pale donkey orchid,{{FloraBase|name=Diuris pallescens|id=46856}} is a species of orchid that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has two or three linear to lance-shaped leaves and up to seven pale yellow flowers with light brown to reddish-brown markings.
Description
Diuris pallescens is a tuberous, perennial herb with two or three linear to lance-shaped leaves {{cvt|150–300|mm}} long and {{cvt|4–7|mm}} wide. Up to seven pale yellow flowers with light brown to reddish-brown markings, {{cvt|25–30|mm}} long and {{cvt|10–15|mm}} wide are borne on a flowering stem {{cvt|150–350|mm}} tall. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, {{cvt|6–8|mm}} long and {{cvt|7–9|mm}} wide, the lateral sepals narrowly oblong, down-turned and crossed, {{cvt|10–14|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide. The petals are broadly elliptic to more or less round, {{cvt|8–14|mm}} long and {{cvt|5–8|mm}} wide on a stalk {{cvt|3.0–4.5|mm}} long. The labellum is {{cvt|5–7|mm}} long with three lobes - the centre lobe wedge-shaped, {{cvt|5–6|mm}} long and {{cvt|6–7|mm}} wide, the side lobes spread widely apart and oblong, {{cvt|4–7|mm}} long and {{cvt|3–4|mm}} wide. There is a single smooth, yellow callus ridge {{cvt|3–4|mm}} long, along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from late August to mid-September.{{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=214}}{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=David L. |last2=French |first2=Christopher J. |title=Eight new species in the Diuris corymbosa Lindley complex (Orchidaceae) from Western Australia. |journal=Australian Orchid Review |date=2016 |volume=81 |issue=2 |pages=41–42 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/310751#page/43/mode/1up |access-date=10 August 2023}}
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris pallescens was first formally described in 2016 by David Jones and Christopher J. French in Australian Orchid Review, from a specimen collected by French in the Caron Nature Reserve near Perenjori in 2005.{{cite web|title=Duiris pallescens|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/6379363|publisher=APNI|accessdate=10 August 2023}} The specific epithet (pallescens) means "pale", "wan" or "becoming paler", referring to the colour of the flowers.{{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=269 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Pale donkey orchid grows in low, heathy shrubland, often near granite outcrops, mainly in the area between Three Springs, Coorow and Dalwallinu in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Geraldton Sandplains and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation
Diuris pallescens is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.