Genoplesium parvicallum
{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Mountain-top midge orchid
| genus = Genoplesium
| species = parvicallum
| authority = (Rupp) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.{{cite web|title=Genoplesium parvicallum|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/66180|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=13 July 2021}}
| synonyms =
- Prasophyllum parvicallum Rupp
- Corunastylis parvicalla (Rupp) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.
}}
Genoplesium parvicallum, commonly known as the mountain-top midge-orchid, is a species of orchid which is endemic to Queensland. It is a small orchid with up to twenty five greenish flowers with purplish brown marking and is only known from mountaintops in the McPherson Range. It is treated as Corunastylis parvicalla in Queensland.
Description
Genoplesium parvicallum is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single thin leaf {{convert|150-300|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long with the free part {{convert|15-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. Between fifteen and twenty five greenish flowers with purplish brown stripes are arranged along a flowering stem {{convert|20-35|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and much taller than the leaf. The flowers are about {{convert|8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|7|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and as with others in the genus, are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is {{convert|4.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|2.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a sharply pointed tip and a few hairs on its edges. The lateral sepals are {{convert|6.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a humped base and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are {{convert|3.5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a pointed tip and hairy edges. The labellum is about {{convert|4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|2|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and purplish with a pointed tip and red hairs on its edges. The labellum quivers in the slightest breeze and there is a small, club-shaped callus in its centre. Flowering occurs between December and February.{{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 =178}}
Taxonomy and naming
The mountain-top midge orchid was first formally described in 1945 by Herman Rupp who gave it the name Prasophyllum parvicallum from a specimen collected on Mount Greville and the description was published in The Queensland Naturalist.{{cite web|title=Prasophyllum parvicallum|url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/535592|publisher=APNI|accessdate=6 February 2018}}{{cite journal|last1=Rupp|first1=Herman|title=A new territorial orchid for south Queensland|journal=The Queensland Naturalist|date=1945|volume=12|issue=1|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/206489#page/64/mode/1up|accessdate=6 February 2018}} In 2002, David Jones and Mark Clements changed its name to Corunastylis parvicalla and the species is known by that name in Queensland, but the change is not accepted by the Australian Plant Census.{{cite web|title=Corunastylis parvicalla|url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/581193|publisher=APNI|accessdate=6 February 2018}} The specific epithet (parvicallum) is derived from the Latin word parvus meaning "little"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page=590}} referring to the small labellum callus of this orchid.
Distribution and habitat
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15464533}}
Category:Orchids of Queensland