Diuris fucosa
Diuris fucosa is a species of orchid that is endemic to New South Wales. It between four and seven leaves and up to four pale yellow flowers with a few brown striations. It is only known from two sites in Callitris woodland in the south of the state and is classed as "extinct" in Victoria.
Description
Diuris fucosa is a tuberous, perennial herb with a loose tussock of between four and seven narrow linear leaves long and wide. Up to four pale yellow flowers wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The dorsal is egg-shaped and held close to horizontally, long and wide. The lateral sepals are green, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long, wide and turned below horizontal and usually parallel to each other. The petals spread apart from each other, elliptic to egg-shaped, long and wide on a green to brown stalk long. The labellum is long and has three lobes. The centre lobe is broadly egg-shaped, long and wide and the side lobes are oblong to wedge-shaped, long and wide with irregular edges. There are two thick, brown, pimply callus ridges near the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs in August and September.
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris fucosa was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones from a specimen collected near Urana and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "painted", "simulated" or "counterfeit", referring to the tan-brown markings on the labellum of this orchid.
Distribution and habitat
This orchid grows in Callitris woodland in two locations between Urana and Narrandera, one in a state forest and the other on private property. There are two old collections from Victoria but the species is now classed as "extinct" in that state.