Genoplesium eriochilum

Genoplesium eriochilum is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single thin leaf {{convert|100-200|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and fused to the flowering stem with the free part {{convert|8-12|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. Between five and twenty dark purplish brown flowers are crowded along a flowering stem {{convert|10-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall and much taller than the leaf. The flowers are about {{convert|4.5|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide and lean downwards. As with others in the genus, the flowers are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The sepals, petals and labellum all have tiny hairs on their edges. The dorsal sepal is about {{convert|3|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a pointed tip. The lateral sepals are about {{convert|3.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are about {{convert|2|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a sharply pointed tip. The labellum is about {{convert|2|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, thick and fleshy with a pointed tip. There is a callus in the centre of the labellum and extending nearly to its tip. Flowering occurs from November to January.{{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 =183}}

The Mount Wilson midge orchid was first formally described in 1885 by Robert D. FitzGerald who gave it the name Prasophyllum eriochilum and published the description in Journal of Botany, British and Foreign.{{cite web|title=Prasophyllum eriochilum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/533404|publisher=APNI|accessdate=2 February 2018}}{{cite journal|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=Robert D.|title=New Australian orchids|journal=Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|date=1885|volume=23|page=135|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8070313#page/155/mode/1up|accessdate=2 February 2018}} In 1989, David Jones and Mark Clements changed the name to Genoplesium eriochilum{{cite web|title=Genoplesium eriochilum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/473708|publisher=APNI|accessdate=2 February 2018}} and in 2002, changed it again to Corunastylis eriochila but the last change is not accepted by the Australian Plant Census.{{cite web|title=Corunastylis eriochila|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/581180|publisher=APNI|accessdate=2 February 2018}} The specific epithet (eriochilum) is derived from the Ancient Greek words ἔριον (erion) meaning "wool"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}{{rp|864}} and χεῖλος (cheilos) meaning lip.{{rp|486}}

Genoplesium eriochilum is only known from the Blue Mountains between Blackheath, Mount Wilson and Mount Victoria, where it grows in heath with grasses and sedges.{{cite web|title=Genoplesium eriochilum|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Genoplesium~eriochilum|publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney|accessdate=2 February 2018}}

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eriochilum

Category:Endemic orchids of Australia

Category:Orchids of New South Wales

Category:Plants described in 1885