Rimacola
{{Short description|Genus of orchids}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Green rock orchid
| image = Rimacola elliptica.jpg
| image_caption = Rimacola elliptica near Wentworth Falls
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Rimacola
| parent_authority = Rupp
| species = elliptica
| synonyms_ref = [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=179093 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
| synonyms =
- Lyperanthus ellipticus R.Br.
- Caladenia elliptica (R.Br.) Rchb.f.
- Megastylis elliptica (R.Br.) Schltr.
}}
Rimacola elliptica, commonly known as the green rock orchid or green beaks,{{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|pages =284–285}} is the only species of plant in the orchid genus Rimacola and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an evergreen species which grows in clumps in sandstone cracks and has bright green leaves and in late spring, produces arching flower stems with up to eighteen dull greenish flowers with reddish or brown markings. It only grows near Sydney, mainly in the Blue Mountains and near Fitzroy Falls.
Description
Rimacola elliptica is an evergreen perennial herb with a short, branched, erect stem but which lacks a tuber. It grows in clumps with crowded, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves {{convert|40-100|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|20-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide on a stalk {{convert|10-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. Between six and eighteen green to yellowish flowers with reddish or brown markings, {{convert|18-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|16-20|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide are borne on arching or drooping flowering stems {{convert|150-250|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. The dorsal sepal is lance-shaped, {{convert|23-27|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|5-6|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide and the lateral sepals are similar but narrower. The petals are {{convert|16-19|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, about {{convert|2|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and curved. The labellum is egg-shaped, white or green with red markings, {{convert|10-12|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|7-8|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide and erect with wavy edges. Flowering occurs in November and December.{{cite book |editor1=Alec M. Pridgeon |editor2=Phillip J. Cribb |editor3=Mark W. Chase |editor4=Finn N. Rasmussen |title=Genera Orchidacearum (Volume 2) |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, New York |isbn=0198507100 |pages=170–172}}{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Peter |title=Rimacola ellliptica |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rimacola~elliptica |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=20 August 2018}}
Taxonomy and naming
The green rock orchid was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Lyperanthus ellipticus and published the description in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.{{cite web|title=Lyperanthus ellipticus|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/528153|publisher=APNI|access-date=20 August 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen |date=1810 |location=London |page=325 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/193/mode/1up |access-date=20 August 2018}} In 1942 Herman Rupp changed the name to Rimacola elliptica.{{cite web|title=Rimacola elliptica|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/reference/apni/38404|publisher=APNI|access-date=20 August 2018}}{{cite journal |last1=Rupp |first1=Herman |title=Robert Brown's Lyperanthus ellipticus |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |date=1942 |volume=58 |issue=12 |pages=187–188 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/139541#page/597/mode/1up |access-date=20 August 2018}} The genus name (Rimacola), given by Rupp, is derived from the Latin word rima meaning "cleft" or "fissure"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}{{rp|164}} and -cola meaning "dweller".{{rp|217}} The specific epithet (ellipticus) is derived from the Latin word ellipsis meaning "elliptical".{{rp|346}}
Distribution and habitat
Rimacola elliptica is mainly found in the Blue Mountains by also occurs disjunctly near Fitzroy Falls and near the coast north of Sydney. It mainly grows in sandstone fissures and on damp sandstone cliffs, often with mosses and other small plants.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline|Rimacola|Rimacola}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q3906340|from2=Q15515182}}
Category:Flora of New South Wales
Category:Endemic orchids of Australia
Category:Monotypic Orchidoideae genera