Chiloglottis formicifera
Chiloglottis formicifera, commonly known as common ant orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to New South Wales. It has two broad leaves and a single narrow, greenish or reddish flower with a black, ant-like callus covering most of the upper surface of the labellum. There is a single record of this species from New Zealand.
Description
Chiloglottis formicifera is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with two leaves long and wide. A single greenish or reddish flower long and wide is borne on a flowering stem high. The dorsal sepal is spatula-shaped, long and about wide. The lateral sepals are long, about wide and erect at the base then curve downwards. There is a glandular tip about long on the end of all three sepals. The petals are lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long, about wide and turned strongly downwards. The labellum is diamond-shaped, long and wide with a narrow, shiny black, ant-like callus covering most of its upper surface. Flowering occurs from August to November.
Chiloglottis formicifera was first formally described in 1877 by Robert D. FitzGerald and the description was published in his book Australian Orchids from a specimen collected "in a gully at the Kurrajong". The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word formica meaning "ant" with the suffix -fera meaning "bear", "carry" or "have".
Distribution and habitat
Common ant orchid grows in moist places in forest between the Northern Tablelands and Nowra. There is a single historical record from Kaitaia in New Zealand.