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      Item Details  

Scientific Name : Arthrochilus huntianus
Common Name : Elbow orchid
Height : 150 mm
Description : A tiny inconspicuous little orchid. It is a leafless Saprophyte, invisible for most of the year, but putting up a single flowering stem in early summer. The stem is greenish to reddish-brown, with up to six flowers. The flowers are small and hardly look like flowers at all. The Sepals and lateral Petals are 6mm long and are Reflexed, bent sharply back against the Ovary. The most conspicuous part of the flower is the Labellum which is hinged to the end of a 6mm extension of the base of the Column. It consists of a 6mm stalk, and the Lamina is 6mm long fringed with purple and white Glandular hairs. It is pollinated by male thynnid wasps, which try to copulate with the Labellum, which swings in against the Column.
Habitat : Open forests on open ground, usually on sandy soils, amongst leaf litter.
Distribution : New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Widespread through Southern and Eastern Victoria. First located in the Park in 1990, but seen regularly since along the outer half of the Stringybark Ridge Walk.
Flowering Season : November and December
Family : Orchidaceae
 
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Elbow orchid flowering stem, on Stringybark Ridge