Calochilus herbaceus
Calochilus herbaceus, commonly known as the copper beard orchid or pale beard orchid, is a species of orchid native to south-eastern Australia and northern New Zealand. It has a single very short, rigid, fleshy leaf and up to eight pale green to brownish flowers with reddish stripes and a purple "beard".
Description
Calochilus herbaceus is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single fleshy, channelled leaf long, wide and triangular in cross section. Up to eight pale green to brownish flowers with reddish stripes, long and wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal is erect, egg-shaped, long and wide. The lateral sepals are egg-shaped, long and wide. The petals are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long, wide and spread below the labellum. The labellum is triangular, curved in side view, long and wide. The base of the labellum has between two and six smooth, metallic blue plates and the middle part has a few bristly purple hairs. The tip has a short glandular "tail" about long. The column has two sham "eyes" joined by a faint ridge. Flowering occurs from October to January but each flower only lasts for one or two days.Taxonomy and naming
Calochilus herbaceus was first formally described in 1840 by John Lindley from a specimen collected near Rocky Cape, Tasmania, Australia. The description was published in his book The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants. The genus name Calochilus is from the Greek "kalos" and "cheilos", referring to the flower's labellum, while the specific epithet is Latin for "of plants".New Zealand populations and some plants in Australia seem to differ from other C. herbaceus and may represent a separate species.