Diuris venosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Veined doubletail | |
|---|---|
_-_cropped.jpg) | |
| Diuris venosa growing in Barrington Tops National Park | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Diurideae |
| Genus: | Diuris |
| Species: | D. venosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Diuris venosa | |
Diuris venosa, commonly known as the veined doubletail is a species of orchid which is endemic to New South Wales. It has a few thin, erect leaves and up to four white to lilac-coloured flowers with deep red to purple blotches and lines.
Diuris venosa is a tuberous, perennial, terrestrial herb, with three to five erect, thread-like leaves 5–12 cm (2–5 in) long and 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide.
There are up to four flowers arranged on a raceme 10–40 cm (4–20 in) high, each flower about 25 mm (1 in) wide. The flowers are white to lilac-coloured with many purple lines and blotches. The dorsal sepal is broadly egg-shaped, 9–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, 4–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide and forms a hood over the column. The lateral sepals are linear to lance-shaped, 11–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long, 2–3.5 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide and hang vertically below the flower. The petals are narrow egg-shaped, 3–10 mm (0.1–0.4 in) long, 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide spreading more or less horizontally and resemble the shape of cow's ears. The labellum is 10–13 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long and is divided into three lobes. The lateral lobes are linear to wedge-shaped, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long, 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide with a wavy edge. The medial lobe is a broad egg-shape to almost circular when flattened, 6–11 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide with a callus 5–6.5 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris venosa was first formally described in 1926 by Herman Rupp and the description was published in the journal, Victorian Naturalist.[4][5] The specific epithet (venosa) is derived from a Latin word meaning "veiny".[6]