Leptoceras
{{Short description|Genus of orchids}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Rabbit orchid
| image = Caladenia menziesii - Flickr 003.jpg
| image_caption = Leptoceras menziesii near American River on Kangaroo Island
| display_parents = 4
| genus = Leptoceras
| parent_authority = Lindl.
| species = menziesii
}}
Leptoceras menziesii, commonly known as rabbit orchid,{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Noel|last2=Brown|first2=Andrew|title=Orchids of South-West Australia.|date=2011|publisher=Noel Hoffman|location=Gooseberry Hill|isbn=9780646562322|pages=214–215|edition=3rd}}{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Andrew|last2=Dundas|first2=Pat|last3=Dixon|first3=Kingsley|last4=Hopper|first4=Stephen|title=Orchids of Western Australia|date=2008|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|location=Crawley, Western Australia|isbn=9780980296457|page=271}} is a plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and the only member of the genus Leptoceras. It is a slender plant, usually found in large colonies and which only flowers after fire. The flowers are small, white, pink and red on a stem up to {{convert|30|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall and is endemic to southern Australia. It was one of the first orchids from Western Australia to be described and was given the name Caladenia menziesii, a name still used by some authorities.
Description
The rabbit orchid is a tuberous perennial herb growing to a height of {{convert|6-20|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}, sometimes {{convert|30|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} with one to three flowers. The leaf is glabrous, variable in size and shape but mostly lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped to oblong, {{convert|30-120|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|5-23|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide.{{cite web|title=Leptoceras menziesii|url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/6162161f-2d18-4af4-8c33-800d5995ed84|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria|access-date=28 October 2019}}{{cite web|title=Caladenia menziesii|url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Caladenia_menziesii|publisher=Government of South Australia: eflorasa|access-date=3 June 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Archer|first1=William|title=Rabbit orchid - Leptoceras menziesii|date=18 July 2008|url=http://esperancewildflowers.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/rabbit-orchid-leptoceras-menziesii.html|publisher=Esperance Wildflowers|access-date=3 June 2016}}
There are one to three small flowers, sometimes all white but more usually white, pink and red. The top sepal at the back of the flower is about {{convert|11|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, dark reddish, spoon-shaped and forms a hood over the column. The back of the dorsal sepal has many glandular hairs. The lower, lateral sepals are white or pink, wide in the middle, taper towards both ends and {{convert|10-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. The petals forming the "ears" are erect, purplish-red, very narrow linear in shape but club-shaped on the ends, {{convert|16-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and have many glandular hairs. The central labellum is white with pink or red markings, egg-shaped to almost circular, about {{convert|7|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and has a short claw. The labellum has 2 to 4 rows of calli with large heads. The column is erect with wide wings and pink markings. The species flowers from August to November, much more prolifically after recent bushfires, and delayed in some places until after rainfall.
Taxonomy and naming
Caladenia menziesii was one of the first three orchids collected in Western Australia. Archibald Menzies was the collector of the holotype at King George Sound in 1791 during the Vancouver Expedition.{{cite web | access-date = 3 June 2016| url = http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Eemntee/Historical1.htm | work = The Species Orchid Society of Western Australia (Inc) | title = History of Orchid Collecting in Western Australia, 1791–1971 | author = Heberle, Ron L.}} It was first formally described by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.{{cite web|title=Caladenia menziesii|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/514308|publisher=APNI|access-date=3 June 2016}}{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Robert|title=Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae|date=1810|location=London|page=325|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21771#page/195/mode/1up|access-date=3 June 2016}} In 1840, John Lindley changed the name to Leptoceras menziesii in The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants.{{cite web|title=Leptoceras menziesii|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/465152|publisher=APNI|access-date=3 June 2016}}{{cite book|last1=Lindley|first1=John|title=The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants|date=1840|publisher=Ridgways|location=Piccadilly, London|page=416|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9889#page/428/mode/1up|access-date=3 June 2016}} Some herbaria continue to use the old name. The specific epithet (menziesii) honours Archibald Menzies.
Distribution and habitat
Rabbit orchid forms colonies using vegetative reproduction in a range of soil types in heath, scrub or forest, mainly in damp areas. It is widely distributed in Victoria, Tasmania, southern South Australia and the south-west of Western Australia.{{cite web|title=Leptoceras menziesii|url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Leptoceras+menziesii|publisher=Atlas of Living Australia; Biodiversity Information Explorer|access-date=3 June 2016}}
Conservation
Leptoceras menziesii is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.{{FloraBase|name=Leptoceras menziesii|id=15418}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
- {{cite book |last= Liddelow|first= Bob|title= Guide to Native Orchids of South Western Australia|year=2006 |isbn=0-9587532-4-5 |pages= 116|publisher= R & R Publications Australia}}
{{Commons|Leptoceras|Leptoceras}}
{{Wikispecies|Leptoceras|Leptoceras}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q3291991|from2=Q17320793}}
Category:Monotypic Orchidoideae genera
Category:Endemic orchids of Australia
Category:Orchids of Western Australia
Category:Orchids of South Australia